Tanneries, the Ganga and UPPCB: Compliance in Kanpur and Unnao

What tanneries in Kanpur and Unnao must track under UPPCB — consents, CETP compliance, chrome recovery and Ganga-basin scrutiny — plus Taj Trapezium Zone rules around Agra.

Kanpur's leather industry, centred on Jajmau and spreading into Unnao, sits on the banks of the Ganga. That location has made it one of the most closely watched industrial clusters in the country — and it changes what compliance means for every tannery there.

UPPCB consents

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) issues a Consent to Establish and a Consent to Operate under the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981, plus hazardous-waste authorisation. For tanneries, the consent conditions centre on effluent — chrome above all — and on how the unit connects to common treatment.

Why the Ganga changes the rules

Cleaning the Ganga is a long-running national priority, and polluting industries in its basin have faced repeated court and tribunal orders. Kanpur's tanneries in particular have seen closure orders, restrictions and seasonal shutdowns — for example around major bathing festivals. A unit's compliance record is what decides whether it keeps operating when the cluster comes under scrutiny.

What a tannery should keep on record

Agra and the Taj Trapezium Zone

Around Agra, industry sits inside the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), created to protect the Taj Mahal from air pollution. Units there — foundries, glass works in Firozabad and others — face restrictions on fuels, with a long-standing push towards natural gas in place of coal and coke, and tighter scrutiny on new or expanding polluting industry.

Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad

Western UP's industrial towns are part of the NCR, so the same winter air-quality measures that apply in Haryana apply here — see our GRAP guide.

Using EnvironDesk for UPPCB clients

EnvironDesk keeps every consent, authorisation and monitoring schedule on one calendar with reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days, checks lab results against limits as they're entered, and files every manifest and report against its factory — so a unit's compliance record is complete when it's asked for. Auto-filled application forms currently cover GPCB; for UPPCB you file on the board's system as usual. More on the Uttar Pradesh page.

General information, not legal advice. Environmental regulation changes, and how a rule applies depends on your unit's category, location and consent conditions. Verify anything decision-critical against the current GPCB or CPCB position, or take professional advice.