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The polluted periyar river. — K.K. Mustafah

Kochi , Aug 24

A MONITORING Committee on Hazardous Waste set up by the Supreme Court has recommended that the public sector Hindustan Insecticides Ltd (HIL) at Eloor near here should be closed down in view of the environmental pollution it creates.

The committee said in its report submitted to the State Government that the public sector HIL should `go in for closure' and the area where the company is operating be allowed to `recover from the various toxic materials and chemicals' HIL uses and discharges.

HIL, which makes pesticides such as DDT and Endosulfan, should be allowed to reopen only if it can shift to "clean technology and a new product mix", the committee said in its report.

The committee, which severely criticised the State for failing to safeguard its environment by checking industrial pollution, also recommended that the industrial estate of Eloor and Edayar should collectively pay a fine of Rs 2.5 crore on the `polluter pays principle' for contaminating the Periyar river.

The Kerala Pollution Control Board (KPCB) will ensure that this amount is collected as per the committee's directions and use the proceeds to monitor the health of the river, to create conditions for the re-entry of life in it and restore its ecology.

The committee also looked into the allegation of pollution created by Coca Cola, which distributed its sludge to farmers at Plachimada, Palakkad, where the soft drink giant has a bottling unit.

Pulls up the Coke: Hindustan Coca Cola could not convince the committee of the source of the toxic heavy metals found in the sludge, the report said. Unauthorised disposal of the sludge has affected the areas around the plant and the ground water was found to be unfit for drinking.

The committee came to the conclusion that Coca Cola will take quick measures to ensure water supplies to all the people in the vicinity of the plant. The KPCB will look into this and report compliance, besides ensuring that all sludge dumped by the plant outside its walls would be retrieved and placed within a new landfill being constructed by the company.

Regarding the issue of Coke and Pepsi plants drawing ground water, the committee said though this matter was outside its purview, in order to reduce the withdrawal of ground water, both the units are directed to install reverse osmosis systems to ensure that use of public water for effluent treatment is returned to its original condition for re-used. This recommendation has to be implemented within six months.

The committee also issued directions to Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT), Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd, Binani Zinc Ltd, Hindustan Newsprint Factory and Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd, regarding improving their waste disposal.

More Stories on : Pollution | Courts/Legal Issues | Environment | Pesticides | Water | Kerala

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SC panel for closure of Hind Insecticides unit — Proposes Rs 2.5-cr fine for polluting river

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