PCB to act tough on dumping of industrial effluents

By T. Lalith Singh

HYDERABAD, OCT. 11. The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has initiated stringent measures to check illegal dumping of untreated industrial effluents in different parts of the city and its outskirts.

In this direction, the Board approached the Road Transport Authority and on Thursday secured the cancellation of permit of a vehicle which was found to be dumping obnoxious effluents at Patancheru. The PCB Member-Secretary, Mr. Tishya Chatterjee, said that about 25 tankers which were indulging in such illegal dumping were seized in the last one month at Patancheru, Rayadurgam and Jeedimetla. These tankers were handed over to the local police. Board engineers would collect samples and analyse the effluent content, he said.

As per prescribed guidelines, industries should treat the effluents till they were within the Inlet Standards and then send it to the common effluent treatment plants (CETPs). "But several industries do not follow these procedures and instead dump the pollutants in isolated places or simply allow them into some stream," a PCB official said. The Inlet Standards at the CETPs prescribe the total dissolved solids (TDS) and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) to be not more than 15,000 mg per litre and the pH value to be neutral.

The polluters were also charged with innovating new methods to dispose of the toxic material. After filling tankers with effluents, they put a small hole to it and go on driving along the highways. In a couple of hours, the whole quantity gets discharged on the road. "They find it to be a convenient and cost-effective way when compared to treating it and then sending it to the CETP," the official observed.

There were also instances where some industries got vehicles painted as `drinking water tankers' to shift the pollutants without arousing any suspicion. The PCB officials claimed they had information on some vehicles driving to a stream near Nagole and using a long pipe to empty the effluents. "As they are left in the water, the effluents get mixed immediately," the official said.

Meanwhile, acting at the behest of PCB, the RTA revoked the permit of a tanker which was found to be illegally dumping effluents with a high content of TDS, COD and BOD. The cancellation order noted that the tanker having `Diamond Water Suppliers' tag had illegally released effluents near the BJD office in Patancheru on January 25 night and "endangered the human life."

Mr. Chatterjee said this was the second tanker whose permit was cancelled in recent times and added that similar action would be initiated against other erring tankers. The Task Force wing of the PCB, comprising 30 engineers, had taken to night patrolling of the industrial belt between Jeedimetla and Patancheru. "About 40-odd tankers are inspected on the road every month," the PCB social scientist, Mr. W.G. Prasanna Kumar, said.

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