Hanumanthpura Gram Panchayat in Hassan district has made an unusual appeal to the farmers in the region: “Please do not grow marigolds anymore.”
This appeal is their last-ditch effort to stop a marigold processing unit that they allege is releasing untreated effluents into the region resulting in an unbearable stench. They say their repeated efforts to solve this problem by approaching the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has failed.
The logic behind the latest appeal is that if farmers do not grow marigold, the unit will naturally close as it will have no raw material. Mumbai-based Omnikan Earth Sciences Pvt. Ltd. set up the processing unit in 2012 to produce lutein, a natural antioxidant from marigold.
Navin Kumar, president of Hanumanthpura Gram Panchayat, told The Hindu : “People cannot tolerate the terrible stench. We get severe headaches and we can’t eat in peace. We have complained to the KSPCB, met its chairman in Bengaluru, and demanded closure of the unit.”
In fact, following repeated complaints, the KSPCB had issued closure orders in 2014. However, recently, it has been revoked allowing the company to promote farmers to take up marigold cultivation.
K.V. Shivakumar, Environment Officer of KSPCB, told The Hindu that the closure order was revoked as the company set up an effluent treatment plant (ETP). “The factory functions only for three to four months in a year. Now, we have suggested suitable modifications and the steps taken have shown improvement. People will not face problems when it starts processing flowers in September this year,” the officer said.
The KSPCB had also suggested that the company distribute the treated organic effluents among marigold growers to utilise it as fertilizer. “Students of the Agriculture College in Hassan had done a project on the effluents and found it suitable to use as fertilizer,” the officer added.
Austin John, a manager with the company in Hassan, refused to respond to the allegations when he was contacted.
