Bikaner, Nov. 5 -- The Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) has opened a fresh window for industries across the state to obtain pollution consent without paying fees for the years they operated without approval, even as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) presses the Board to act against polluting units in Bikaner's Khara industrial area. The notification waives only back-period consent fees and does not expressly exempt industries from environmental compensation. The Board has retained its enforcement powers. A joint committee report found that 29 operational industrial units in Khara were operating without valid pollution consent. The committee, comprising Bikaner sub-divisional magistrate Mahima Kasana and RSPCB regional officer Rajkumar Meena, inspected the area on March 4. According to the report, 205 of the 243 established industries were operational. Of these, 151 had valid consent, 25 belonged to the White category, which does not require consent, and 29 lacked valid operating consent. The report stated that the Board had issued show-cause notices to the 29 units and initiated regulatory action. Meena declined to comment on the action against the units, saying a team was monitoring compliance. The committee report also recorded that 19 closure directions had been issued in Khara between January 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, following inspections of 115 industries. At an October 26 hearing, the Board separately informed the NGT that it had issued closure notices to 21 units following inspections. The tribunal directed the RSPCB to "take necessary action against units causing pollution", "ensure adequate plantation and survival of trees wherever compliance was lacking" and submit a further action-taken report within three weeks. The next hearing is scheduled for December 18. Under an October 16 order, eligible industries, processes, activities and projects across Rajasthan can apply for consent under the Water and Air Acts by December 31, 2026, without paying back-period consent fees. Applicants will have to pay the applicable current consent fees, while fees for the years they operated without approval will be waived. The concession covers establishments that are not registered under the Board's consent-management system and are seeking consent for the first time. It also includes applications already pending with the Board, irrespective of when they were filed. No refunds will be given in cases that have already been disposed of. The October 16 order, of which HT has a copy, issued by RSPCB member secretary Kapil Chandrawal, retains the Board's power to take action against past violations under environmental laws. The concession is also subject to the outcome of a pending NGT appeal challenging an earlier dispensation scheme for hotels and specified service-sector establishments. The latest scheme follows an NGT ruling on January 15, 2025, against an earlier RSPCB order that allowed industries to regularise their operations by paying past consent fees while exempting them from environmental compensation for the same period. The tribunal directed the Board to amend its January 2, 2024, order in accordance with environmental laws and Central Pollution Control Board guidelines. It held that "payment of consent fees alone could not account for environmental damage caused during unauthorised operations" and that compensation had to be assessed wherever damage was established. The RSPCB withdrew the 2024 order on February 25, 2025. The committee report also identified plaster-of-Paris manufacturing clusters as significant contributors to local air pollution. It cited dust from material handling, vehicle movement, crushing and pulverising, as well as emissions from calciner drums and furnaces. Damaged roads were also generating dust, while greenbelt plantation was found to be inadequate....