Mahindra Tubes Private Limited, a Birpara (Jalpaiguri) based factory
is under the scanner for breaking anti-pollution norms.
The Union Ministry of Environment and
Forests informed the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) that the
factory is operating without the mandatory permission from the department
and direction also has came from Delhi to take legal steps against
it.
A decision will be taken by the officials of the PCB's Parivesh
Bhawan, Kolkata in a meeting, which will be organized at the zonal
office in Siliguri on 23rd July. The nature of the fees and punishment
will also be settled in that meeting. The Mahindra Tubes Private
Limited which manufactures asbestos pipes falls under the "special
red" category that are specially ranked as the most polluting
sector. This is the first time that the Central Government has interfered
in this matter in this region.
As per the circular (February 28, 2003) issued by the Department
of Environment and Forests, the units that are highly polluting
should submit 2% of total capital investment as pollution cost.
The concern did not abide by this rule. The senior officials of
the PCB said that they have charged two closure notices on the company
for which the production was stopped for two months in 2000 and
for one month in 2003. They added that the company has violated
three pollution control acts like Water (Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act, 1974; Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Another charge
has been imposed on the company for non-securing the Clearance notice
before resuming the operations.
It has come to be known from senior law officers of the PCB, Mr.
Biswajit Mukherjee that the headquarter has given them the directions
to impose the pollution cost on the Company as it did not obtained
the clearance certificate to do business. The provisions of the
water, air and the environment have empowered the board to take
disciplinary measures against the company and related parties. The
M.D. of the Mahindra Tubes Private Limited Mr. Krissan Lal Agarwal
declared that the activities of his company has already been stopped
but still he is looking for the official notice from the Board about
the hearing of 23rd July.
In the recent past the M/s Prakash Distillery and Chemical Company,
Dagapur on the outskirts of Siliguri was treated as guilty for the similar offences and as penalty, the
bank guarantee of Rs. 50000 was forfeited by PCB. The unit, as it
is known from sources, was releasing pollutants in the Panchanoi
River. The company was given the reminders to stop pollution. But
the company was not giving enough attention to the reminders. So
PCB directed the unit to stop production and wait for the next order
of the Board. |
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