Guwahati, it seems, is stepping off on the wrong foot, in so far as industrialization is concerned. Captains of industries may fed those at the helm of affairs on environment with some predigested materials or information, but it is the duty of the persons on whom lies the onus of making a place a heaven on earth to right every wrong done or else the proverbial hell on earth may be a reality, sooner than later. A reality check can make things easier for all and sundry -- captains of industry and green activists as well. HALCO Industries has its 100-bigha Aluminium Treatment Plant at Tetelia by the NH-37 on the outskirts of Guwahati. This plant, according to the local populace, is slowly but certainly making the area a hell on earth. “Effluents being discharged from the plant has badly polluted the water and soil in the Tetelia area. Without treating industrial effluents at the site itself, the plant has been releasing them directly in the rear side of the plant. An immediate effect of the negligence on the part of the captains of industries is that paddy plants sown near the plant have died on their own,” local people allege. “The untreated effluents from the plant have spelt doom for us. I have sown Shail paddy (summer paddy) with much efforts. However, industrial effluents from the plant have killed them all. The pollution level of the water has come to such a pass that it starts itching in the body when one wades through the water. I did report it to the top officials of the plant, but they lent scant regard to what I said. They wanted to shut my mouth by offering me Rs 4,000 as compensation for the loss of paddy. I refused to accept the dole,” Shankar Karmakar, a farmer of the locality, said, and added: “The industrial effluents have also badly polluted the waters of Duwani Beel also. Fish population in the beel has gone down drastically.” According to the local people, with industrial effluents polluting the waters of the beel, fish of the water body are moving to other areas. “Since the water of the beel makes people itch who dares to wade through it, the water isn’t safe for us, nor for cattle and other animals,” the local people say. When asked on the issue, Santosh Gupta, head of the plant, almost admitted the allegation when he said: “We do have a big tank for treating industrial effluents. Since the tank is full of rain water these days, the effluents might have overflowed.” A question that pricks the conscience of every right-thinking people is: “What makes the authorities of the plant not to act promptly even after the local people have brought the ground realities to their notice?”