Water pollution is a problem the residents of villages under Byramangala Gram Panchayat have been struggling to deal for more than two decades.

The river, channel and the underground water lines in the 20-odd villages are all contaminated by chemical and other waste. The channel has not been desilted for about a decade. Worse, the people have to deal with the utter apathy of the authorities concerned, says Kumar, a GP employee. The farmers complain of the condition of their fields. The 17,000 acres of agricultural land in the villages are losing value. Also, the crops are affected by the pollutants. “Breeding cattle is a huge challenge as we have to keep a constant eye on them, lest they fall ill drinking water from the channel or the river,” said Rangaiah, a farmer from TB Doddi.

Hyderabad: APPCB Task Force, on Friday reportedly directed immediate closure of about 25 polluting units operating within 10km radius of Osmansagar (Gandipet) and Himayats-agar lakes, the main source of drinking water to the city for not shifting despite repeated notices.

APPCB Task Force reportedly decided to cut off the power of these polluting industries as per the provisions. Leading vaccination companies including the government-owned Indian Immunologicals Limited and others having a foreign partnership in addition to some other government undertakings are amongf:\page3 a total of 55 shortlisted units which are in the process of shifting, have been given some grace period, sources say.

Vadodara: The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has issued a closure notice to a chemical manufacturing firm based in Nandesari on the outskirts of the city for discharging effluent in Mini river last month.

The environment watchdog of the state issued a closure notice to Unit-II and Unit-III of Panoli Intermediates (India) Pvt Ltd, which manufactures dye intermediate and other chemicals, on Wednesday.

Many industrial units functioning near Kalingarayan Canal

Farmers in the Kalingarayan ayacut areas in the district are now forced to use water from Kalingarayan Canal that is mixed with untreated effluents and waste water discharged by textile processing and tannery units. The Public Works Department stopped on December 20 the discharge of water in the canal that feeds the ayacut. But the 56-and-a-half mile long irrigation canal connecting River Bhavani with River Noyyal still carries water. “The canal should be dry by this time. But there is still good flow in the canal because the industrial units are dumping thousands of gallons of untreated effluents and waste water every day,” alleges Kalingarayan Pasana Sabhai president V.M. Velayudham.

Bhusan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) at Thelkuli suffered yet another jolt with the regional office of Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) directing it to suspend work on the proposed ash

People affected by pollution from small-scale plywood industries in Perumbavoor have declared a war of sorts.

After petitions and rallies failed to evoke the desired result the residents formed a samithi and started a satyagraha in the true Gandhian way, about two months ago. At present, one of their representatives is on a ‘fast unto death’ in front of the collectorate. The core issue is that the industrial units are scattered around residential areas. They spew fumes into the air that settle down in the wells nearby. The fumes also cause suffocation. Water bodies are polluted when untreated effluents from many units are discharged into them.

Urge State and Centre to expedite disbursal of compensation

Farmers affected by industrial pollution in the district have called upon the State and the Central government to expedite disbursal of compensation to those distressed by pollution by dyeing units besides making efforts to protect the precious natural resources. “Failure to protect our genuine interests will force us to put up our own candidates in the Lok Sabha elections,” the affected farmers have threatened.

Vaman Acharya, Chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), said on Thursday that the KSPCB had named Mangalore and Bhadravati as “critically polluted” cities in the State.

He was inaugurating a three-day international conference on “Environment and occupation health” organised by Manipal University, the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, and the Regional Occupational Health Centre (ROHC), Bangalore, here.

Greens have again locked horns with the State Pollution Control Board here over the alleged pollution of Periyar waters.

Environmentalists on Wednesday alleged that the board officials at the environment surveillance centre in Eloor failed to collect samples from near Edayar where discolouration of the river was reported on Tuesday. Purushan Eloor, spokesperson of the Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithi, said the board officials refused to collect the samples stating that there was only a patch of white discharge near the region close to Merchem company. We had alerted the board officials immediately after detecting the discolouration but they were late to reach the site, he said.

MARGAO: A day after directions were issued to the South Goa district Collector to seal the premises in plot Nos L-2 and L-3 in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, the Goa State pollution Control Board (GSPCB) is mulling criminal proceedings against the occupants for allegedly handling hazardous wastes dumped on the plots.

The GSPCB on Tuesday dispatched messengers to serve the directions to the District Collector and the IDC field officer to initiate action at the ground level to ensure a total stop to waste handling in the two plots.