The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has issued notices to 751 industrial units in Sonipat (also spelt Sonepat) district, directing them to install Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras so regulators can watch emissions and fuel use remotely.
The Tribune reported the notices on November 5. They follow directions that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) issued on October 5 for highly polluting industries in the National Capital Region.
What the Notices Require
The notices come from the HSPCB's Regional Officer, Sonepat. The camera locations depend on the type of unit.
Boiler-operating textile and food-processing units
- Cameras must cover the Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) sampling points
- Cameras must cover industrial stacks that release flue gas
Metal units
- Cameras must cover furnace-feeding points
- Cameras must cover fume-extraction systems
All units
- Cameras must capture fuel storage areas and fuel-charging points
- For gas-fuelled units, gas meters, gauges and related metering must remain in view
How the Cameras Must Work
Streaming
Video must stream continuously, using the Real Time Streaming Protocol, to designated servers and portals of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the HSPCB.
Quality and uptime
- Cameras and communication systems must stay functional
- Footage must be clear, including at night
- Units must arrange uninterrupted power, backup power and reliable internet
Why this is stated so exactly
A camera that goes dark during a shift defeats the purpose. The notices therefore treat power and internet as the unit's responsibility, not the regulator's.
Why Cameras Alongside OCEMS
The surveillance is meant to cross-check data from OCEMS. OCEMS measures stack emissions continuously and sends the readings to the regulator. A camera adds a second line of evidence.
- If OCEMS shows low emissions while the camera shows heavy smoke, the reading is questionable
- If a furnace is fed with a fuel not permitted for the unit, a camera at the fuel-charging point can show it
- If a gas meter is bypassed, a camera on the meter can record it
This is general reasoning based on the camera locations the notice lists. The report does not describe any specific violations in Sonipat.
The Rules Behind the Notices
The October 5 direction
The notices follow CAQM's October 5 directions for highly polluting NCR industries. The Tribune report does not describe the directions in detail.
The 50 mg/Nm3 limit
CAQM has set a particulate limit of 50 mg/Nm3 for selected polluting industries, based on CPCB recommendations. In an earlier article we covered how the revised standard took effect on October 1, 2026, and how CPCB followed on October 30 with closure show-cause notices for units that had no air pollution control device (APCD) work order or exemption certificate. The CPCB's APCD portal is where units register and upload documents.
How the pieces fit
- Standard: 50 mg/Nm3 for particulate matter
- Equipment: APCDs to meet it
- Measurement: OCEMS to show it continuously
- Verification: cameras to cross-check it
- Enforcement: notices, closure orders and electricity disconnection if a unit fails
What the Report Does Not Say
- The compliance deadline is not stated
- No penalty for non-compliance is stated
- The report does not list the 751 units or say which sectors dominate
- It does not say whether cameras are already installed at any units
Units should ask the Regional Officer's office for the deadline stated in their own notice, since the timeline is described only as "stipulated".
What the Compliance Report Must Contain
Units must submit a compliance report to the Regional Officer's office within the stipulated timeline. It must include the following.
- Locations of the cameras
- Photographs
- Evidence of installation and connectivity
- Details of power backup and streaming arrangements
A Practical Checklist for Units
This is general guidance and not part of the notices.
Before installation
- Read the notice and note which category the unit falls into
- Map the points the cameras must cover: stack, OCEMS sampling point, furnace feed, fuel store, gas meter
- Check line of sight, lighting for night footage, and weather protection
During installation
- Choose cameras that support the required streaming protocol
- Arrange backup power and a second internet line where possible
- Test the stream to the regulator's portal and keep screenshots
After installation
- Keep the compliance report, photographs and connection proof on file
- Check daily that footage is live
- Keep stack data accurate. Calibrated SOx NOx gas analysers support the readings that cameras will be compared against
- Schedule regular servicing under an operation and maintenance programme so that monitoring equipment stays reliable
Why Sonipat
The report does not explain why 751 units in Sonipat were chosen. Sonipat is part of the NCR, so CAQM's NCR directions apply. Other NCR districts may receive similar notices, but the reports reviewed do not say so.
What the Wider Data Shows
CAQM's fact sheet, reported by Outlook on November 3, said 2,296 of 2,345 identified NCR units (about 98%) were connected to CPCB's emission servers. It also said 1,042 of 2,296 units (about 45%) still needed to install pollution control devices. Cameras are the next layer in this system, but these figures are for the whole NCR and not Sonipat.
What Cameras Can and Cannot Show
Cameras add evidence, but they are not a replacement for measurement.
What a camera can show
- Visible smoke, colour changes or dust at a stack or fume hood
- Which fuel is being loaded and when
- Whether a furnace is running when the unit says it is idle
- Whether control equipment appears to be in use
What a camera cannot show
- The concentration of particulate matter in the flue gas
- Invisible gases such as sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxides
- Whether a filter is performing to design efficiency
That is why the notices pair cameras with OCEMS and not in place of it. Units should treat the camera feed as a record that supports their data, which means accurate stack measurement stays essential.
Data and practicalities
Continuous video from hundreds of units generates a large volume of data and needs dependable connections. The notice's emphasis on uptime, night visibility and backup power suggests regulators expect the feeds to be usable. The reports do not say how the footage will be reviewed or stored, so those points are not discussed here.
What to Watch Next
- The compliance deadline in the notices
- How many of the 751 units file their compliance reports
- Whether HSPCB takes action against units that do not install cameras
- Whether other NCR districts issue similar notices
Remote monitoring changes the enforcement model from periodic inspection to continuous observation. Units that treat compliance as a routine task will adjust more easily than those that treat it as an exception.
