UP identifies 27 polluting industries along Gomti

Uttar Pradesh government has identified 27 polluting industrial units along the course of river Gomti, a major tributary of the Ganges.

Of the polluting units, seven are sugar industries, while five are yeast units. The remaining are small sector units, including an agro based paper company.

However, the state government has claimed that all these polluting units had now conformed to the effluent treatment and pollution control norms.

Gomti, which originates in the terai region of Pilibhit, is a major river in UP and about 15 towns, including Lucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri and Jaunpur are either located on its banks or come under its catchments.

 

The river traverses about 900 km through the UP plains and meets the mighty Ganga in Ghazipur district, located on the border with Bihar.

The Mayawati government recently informed the state Assembly that all the polluting sugar industries had established effluent plants and discharges waste only after conforming to the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) norms during the sugarcane crushing season.

UP Jal Nigam (UPJN) has set up two Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) in Lucknow with capacities of 56 million litre daily (MLD) and 345 MLD respectively for domestic water supply.

In Sultanpur district, a 5 MLD oxidation pond and 9 MLD STP has also been proposed by UPJN.

The yeast units utilise industrial waste in the manufacture of biogas and bio-compost manure, which has now rendered their effluent levels to zero. The smaller units have installed chemical recovery and effluent treatment plants.

The government said UPPCB evaluated the quality of Gomti water against 9 parameters to ascertain the level of pollution and effluents being discharged in it.

Along course, several tributaries join Gomti, the most prominent being Sai river, which joins it near Jaunpur. Meanwhile, 5 polluting industries, including paper and sugar units, had been identified along Sai. The government claimed these units had also installed effluent treatment plants.