The Dakshina Kannada district administration has closed down 15 fish meal units, 13 in Ullal and two in Mukka, after directions from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for constantly polluting air and water under the Air and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Acts, respectively.
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Board chairman in his two orders issued on August 5 noted that the industries have continuously been violating the provisions of the two Acts thereby affecting the environment through discharge of untreated industrial effluent into rivers and the sea and inconveniencing the general public through foul smell.
After several show-cause notices by the board and its Mangaluru Regional Office, chairman Shanth A. Thimmiah inspected the units in the first week of April 2022 and observed glaring violation of the provisions of the Act, the orders said.
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After the inspection, the board gave an opportunity to these industries for hearing them and also issued directions to rectify the anomalies. Despite these directions, the industries failed to control the smell/odour problem in the area that was evident from continued public complaints.
The chairman’s team noted that though the industries were established prior to 1991 when the Coastal Zone Regulation Notification was issued, they expanded the activities subsequently without obtaining CRZ clearance. They did not maintain the log book for operation and maintenance of effluent treatment plants nor did they provide flow meters for measuring the inflow of effluents into the ETPs and the outflow. They also did not provide energy meters for ETPs and the air pollution control devices. Housekeeping within the premises too was not satisfactory, the team said.
After the show-cause notices by the board’s Mangaluru Regional Office, the industries submitted a compliance report. However, during another inspection on June 6, officers found that they did not take adequate measures to control environment pollution. Then, the officers recommended closure of the units. While another hearing opportunity was given to the industries on July 12, the Presiding Officer found that the industries were not serious in containing pollution and hence, issued the closure orders.
The industries that have been ordered to be closed down are Ullal Fish Meal and Oil Company, United Marine Products, Super Aqua Tech, S.M. Marine Products, Blueline Foods, Span Fish Meal, Haris Fish Meal, Mangalore Fish Meal and Oil Company, Fahad Fish Meal, Indian Fish Meal and Oil Products, Sharief Marine Products, Mangalore Marine Products and United Marine Products, all in Ullal, and Bawa Fish Meal and Oil Company and H.K. Bawa Fish Meal, both in Mukka.