Drug unit asked to shift effluent

It has stored liquid waste in a sump close to Yellamma lake

 
The manufacturing unit of Cipla has stored liquid waste in a sump on its premises, close to Yellamma Lake. It is raising fears of the hazardous liquid seeping into the lake, causing serious health risks for humans and animals in the vicinity.

A team of officers of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) noticed the violation of environmental norms during its recent visit to the factory. The board constituted the team to inspect effluent treatment plants after a company in Jigani was recently found guilty of hazardous practices in treating its effluent.

At Cipla, the KSPCB officers found a pool of effluent only a few meters away from the lake. The factory manufactures 34 products. Most of the ingredients that go into making the products are hazardous.

According to the norms set by KSPCB, liquid effluent should be carried to Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TTDF) centres as and when they are treated in the effluent treatment plants and disposed scientifically. Three to four TTDFs are located in the outskirts of Bangalore.

“In case of Cipla, the effluents have not been shifted for a long time. Although the water body is not polluted, keeping such huge stock close to a water body is hazardous”, KSPCB chairman A S Sadashivaiah said. He visited the factory on Wednesday and directed the factory to shift the effluent to TTDFs at the earliest.

Cost cutting

Cost seems to have deterred the factory from transporting the effluent. Transporting one tonne of effluent to a TTDF costs anywhere between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,400, depending on the distance and the nature of the effluent .

As per the section 5 of the Environment Protection Act 1986 the board can even close down the factory, after issuing a notice on it.