BHUBANESWAR: Closure threat looms large over 22 dal processing mills at Jatni near the city with Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) serving show cause notice on the millers for violating pollution control norms.
According to the pollution board, the dal mills are causing air pollution and they have not taken any measures to check it. The small particles of dal skin is emanating from the factories during churning in the rolling unit.
The OSPCB's show cause decision came after locals sent a petition to the state government regarding the pollution. The government then asked the pollution board to conduct an inspection to assess the pollution level.
OSPCB regional officer (Bhubaneswar) HadibandhuPanigrahi said air pollution is four times higher than the permissible limit in the vicinity of the factories. "We took samples from two places- one from factory premises and another outside. The Particulate matter (PM-10), which should 100 micro gram per metre cube, was found to be 400 there. After the inspection, we served the show cause notice," he told TOI.
Pollution board sources said although according to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, such factories come under 'green' category, which doesn't need to obtain consent to establish and operate from the OSPCB, they can be served notices and be closed for polluting the environment.
"Since the processing of dal leaves small particles, the millers should install filter bags to prevent the dust from affecting the ambient air. We didn't find dust filter in any mills. This is serious violation of pollution control norms and we will serve closure notice on the mills if their response to show cause notice is not found satisfactory," said Panigrahi.
The 22 mills are located closed to each other and dust particles bellow into the area. "The millers are also using wood, which is burnt to heat up the oven where the dal is fried before churning. Smoke is also emanating from the heating unit," said the senior OSPCB officer.
