Passing the buck
Several efforts have been made over the years to control pollution caused by the printing and dyeing industry in Sanganer. At present, over 100 effluent treatment plants (ETPs) exist in various units. But about 80 of them are yet to be cleared by the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB).
Most industrialists say that the RSPCB is not keen on giving its consent, and without this the ETPs cannot start functioning. A PCB official blames the industry: "The ETPs have been constructed just to get a no-objection certificate.'
The case of Glamour House, a dyeing and printing unit in the township, highlights this blame-game. In August 2001, a biological process-based pilot scale 35,000-litre capacity ETP started operating on its premises. "This technique is suitable for small-scale industries,' says K P Sharma of the University of Rajasthan. Sharma and his colleagues have developed the process, for whose patent they have already applied.
The method involves primary treatment, during which the pH of wastewater is adjusted. Microbes in a constructed wetland degrade complex dyes and other chemicals in the second stage. Even as the cost of treatment comes to 40-50 paise per 100 litres, this ETP is not functioning.
Down To Earth found that though pumpsets were running in the plant, the effluent was being discharged directly without any treatment. "None of the industries pay for the inputs required, so the plant cannot be operated,' points out Sharma.
S Agarwal, on whose premises the ETP is located, rebuts the allegations saying that the plant is very much functional. "We are not operating the plant because we have not yet got clearance from the RSPCB,' claims Agarwal. Meanwhile, RSPCB officials skirted the issue. The bottomline is that technology is going to seed for want of a concerted effort to put it to use.
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