Vexed with the pungent odour for years, the residents of Miyapur, Bachupalli, Nizampet and surrounding areas have decided to move the court against ‘polluting’ pharma units in a bid to restrict their emissions.
Scores of residents of the area formed an association and staged protests and submitted innumerable representations to the concerned officials in the past. However, residents say that the issue has only aggravated with time, especially in the last few months, to the point that they are not in a position to step out in the open.
Some residents are working on the public interest litigation which may be lodged soon in a court. “We start getting the unbearable chemical odour right from early morning hours which is like a wake up call,” says K. Veena, a resident of My Home Jewel in Miyapur, who shifted from United States two years ago.
“Till last year, we used to not get the odour so often but this year has been horrible. The situation is such that we cannot breathe, walk or even keep the windows open. Whenever we approach the pollution control board officials, they give the same assurance that they will look in to the matter. Instead of doing anything about it, nowadays the officials are even snapping back at us when we complain.”
There are more than 200 pharmaceutical units surrounding these areas and it is suspected that the emissions or leaks could be that of Mercaptan, Sulphur, Ammonia and other chemicals.
“We have met public representatives of the area and requested them to raise this issue in the Assembly,” said another resident Nanda Kishore of Miyapur. “We cannot even take our kids out and are scared for the elderly family members. Their health is deteriorating because of the prevailing conditions. If this continues we all might even have to vacate from here.”
The members also recollected that cases of bronchitis and breathing problems are on the rise in the area. “In the past a report even nailed that the sulphur gases being released were above the permissible limits. We are just worried that prolonged exposure to these harmful emissions might just affect out health in a very serious way,” said another resident of Bachupally.
However, an official of the Telangana Pollution Control Board claimed that most often the chemical odour is in the air even though the emission levels are under the permissible limits. “Necessary steps are being taken whenever a complaint is received,” he added.
