Call to tackle industrial pollution

There is a high economic and social price to be paid if we do not take care of our environment, said A Surender Raj, joint chief environmental engineer, Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB)'s zonal office.

Initiatives towards clean development require multi-level stakeholder participation involving industry, technology solution providers, government bodies and civil society organisations, he said, and called upon small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and all stakeholders to understand the current situation and arrive at alternative solutions for treating industrial effluents in the Patancheru Industrial Area (PIA).

Highlighting the seriousness of industrial pollution by pharmaceutical and chemical units at PIA, which is 20 kilometres from Hyderabad, he said, "Hyderabad is a dominant player in the pharmaceutical and bulk drugs manufacturing sector with mainly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved. It is estimated that in excess of 7,000 acres and 50,000 people have been adversely affected by the untreated effluents discharged from PIA. Patancheru has the dubious distinction of being one of the toxic hotspots of India, as identified by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes." Surender Raj was addressing a one-day conference on 'Towards clean technology and effective pollution treatment: A multi-stakeholder dialogue' organised by the Bangalore-based Society for Voluntary Action, Revitalisation and Justice (Svaraj) in Hyderabad on Monday. Ume Fortkamp, department manager at the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), opined that testing substreams with bioassays may be a way to initially prioritise efforts towards reducing effluent levels at PIA.