The two-decade-long civic activism by residents of Whitefield has finally paid off. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board issued a closure order to Graphite India factory in Whitefield on Thursday.
This follows the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order in January that upheld the KSPCB withdrawing consent for the factory in 2012 on grounds of pollution.
The closure order by the KSPCB said a clearance was given to Graphite India to operate on the premises in Mahadevapura till 30th of June 2020, which has now been withdrawn with immediate effect.
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The withdrawal implies there shall be no industrial operations/ processes thereby generating water and air pollutions.
The closure order was met with much joy in Whitefield. “This has been a long 20-year campaign for justice by the citizens who have been badly impacted due to the air pollution from Graphite India. In January, NGT finally corrected a past wrong, the unscientific verdict given by the Appellate Authority by upholding the closure order of the factory from 2012. Citizens of Mahadevpura are united & keeping a close watch, and will no longer sit by when small and big factories or organizations break all the rules with impunity,” a statement from Whitefield Rising said.