Closure of cement factory demanded

Dust from the plant causing health hazards, allege residents

Alleging pollution from the factory, the protesters complained that the dust from the factory is causing health hazard to the residents.

Addressing the protesters, Siddagangappa, CITU leader alleged that the factory that should have been located in the industrial estate area out side the city has been set up in the residential area. The dust from the factory has engulfed the areas in a radius of eight kilometre of the cement plant. This has not only adversely affected the health of the people but also the fertility of the soil. The factory should be closed or be shifted immediately, he demanded.

The students of Swamy Shivananda High School are the worst affected as the school is adjacent to the plant. The buildings and trees are in the area are covered with cement dust, complained Nachakumte Gopal.

Accepting a memorandum from the protesters, Rekha, District Environment officer promised to take action. The officer said that a meeting of the factory administrative board and the residents will be shortly called to discuss the issue.

Sadiq, Saraswati, Potenahalli Venkatesh, C C Ashwathappa, Nijalingappa, Dabeer, Prabhakar, Vijayakumar, Harish, Manjunath, Santhosh Reddy, Shyam, Narasimha Reddy and others led the protest.

Factory clarifies
The factory located near the Tondebhavi Railway station is following all the rules set by State Pollution Control Board, R Nandakumar,  factory representative said.
Factory representative has clarified that a malicious campaign has been launched against the cement plant.

Outsiders are involved in defaming the factory. The district pollution control board officer, who recently visited the unit has inspected all the measures taken by the plant to conserve nature and also the precautionary measure taken, the representative said.