the Union government has shut down 125 highly polluting industries across the country while forcing 1,261 such units to install the pollution control facilities, according to a report. The ministry of environment and forests has identified about 1,551 large and medium industries in the 17 categories of highly polluting industries. Nearly 165 of them are still in process of installing the requisite facilities to control pollution, said the ministry's annual report.

Out of 2,137 units to whom notices were issued for not having effluent treatment systems, 480 units have been closed and 1,457 are to be closed while rest of the units are in the process of installing the system. The annual report said that India has lost 5,500 square kilometres of forest cover since 1995 and the total forest cover is now estimated to be 63,34 million hectares, which represents 19.27 per cent of the country's geographic area.