The chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), CP Gautam, on Sunday said more than 60% of distilleries in the state do not comply with pollution control laws, becoming a major source of soil pollution.
He was delivering the keynote address at a day-long workshop on ‘Zero liquid discharge in distilleries’ at Vasantdada Patil Sugar Institute (VSI) in Pune on Sunday. Union agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, was present.
“Since 2008, CPCB officials have been conducting surprise checks on sugar industries and the results are shocking. Present day treatment plants in sugar factories are not capable of fully treating effluent, which finds its way to the water bodies. Complaints against the sugar industry are on the rise,” he said.
He said bio-composting of solid by-products from sugar factories is a major source of soil pollution. “This is due to the production of letchet, which seeps into the soil and contaminates the underground water tables,” he said.
The CPCB, since 2008, has been urging the industry to switch over to greener technologies.
He stressed on biological remedial process, like treating waste-water with microbes. “However, the response has not been good from the industry,” he said.
Reacting to Gautam’s remarks, Pawar said financial constraints faced by the industry is one of the reasons which prevented it from upgrading technology.
Pawar said the cost of migrating to greener technologies is prohibitive. “I will persuade the government to allow soft loans to sugar factories to help them switch over to environment-friendly technologies at the earliest. Till the transition is achieved, I would request the CPCB to be a bit lenient towards the industry and allow time to shift,” he said.
