ANNOUNCEMENTS
This study undertakes the measurement of marginal abatement cost (MAC) of water pollution for dyeing industry of Ludhiana, Punjab with a specific focus on water pollution of the River Sutlej. The study employs two methodologies, namely the Direct Cost Abatement Function(DACF) and the Directional Output Distance Function(DODF), to estimate the MAC with respect to three water pollution parameters; BOD, COD and TSS. This study also compares the results of the two methods while providing insights into the methods for estimating MAC, potential reasons for the difference in estimations and thus, aims to informs policy decisions for sustainable water management. This thesis also highlights the extent of water pollution in the study area caused by the industrial sector. For the same, primary data is collected through field surveys, interviews, while secondary data sources such as CMIE- Prowess IQ, PPCB and CPCB records are utilized for additional information. On an average, the results of this analysis measures a higher MAC with respect to BOD(Rs. 788.244/Kg) COD (Rs. 180.787/Kg) and TSS (Rs. 657.649/Kg) in case of DACF when compared to the estimations of MAC derived from DODF. The DODF measures MAC in terms of shadow prices of pollutants and estimated the shadow prices for reducing 1 Kg of BOD, COD, and TSS at Rs.106.166 , Rs. Rs. 137.574 and Rs. Rs. 13.416 respectively. Based on the estimations of MAC, this study advocates replacement of current CAC structure with an incentive based economic instrument such as a pollutant specific pollution tax.
Keywords: Marginal Abatement Cost, Distance Function, Water Pollution, Environmental Tax, Industrial Pollution, Pollution Tax.
