BAIHATA CHARIALI, Dec 18 - A group of MLA�s of the State under the leadership of MLA Mrinal Saikia which visited a number of industries established on either side of the National Highway 31 from Changsari to Puthimari on Saturday, will recommend to the Government to close down at least one polluting industry.
The group visited Havels Industry at Changsari, Yolk Print Private Limited at Deuduar near Gopeswar Mandir, Ashoka Craft Paper PP Ltd At Baihata and Eco tech Paper Industry at Dolma gate near Puthimari. Of these, the first two are green industries (non-polluting industries) while the rest are pollution- creating industries.
The group informed that the local people of those areas had submitted a number of memorandums to the Government to stop the polluting industries since the agricultural lands of the nearby villages had become polluted and are no longer fit for agriculture due to the accumulation of waste materials, chemical-mixed water and other garbage coming out from the outlets of the industries. Moreover, flyash and the obnoxious odour coming out from the industries also pollute the air due to which the local environment of the area has become unhygienic.
Though the local people along with a number of organisations had requested the Pollution Control Board of Assam ( PCBA) to take steps against these pollution-creating industries from time to time, but the PCBA has ignored the interest of the public it was alleged. Meanwhile, a number of organisations and members of the public have submitted verbal complaints against the anti-local policies of the industries and they said that the industries have not followed the norms and provisions of the Labour Act regarding appointment and most of the workers are working under labour contractors, which is an illegal practice.
After the visit, the MLA�s had an interaction with media persons at Kamalpur IB and they informed that they will recommend to the Government to suspend the executive engineer, assistant engineer and the inspector of PCBA of the area for their negligence on the sensitive issue and they will file a report to close down Ashoka Craft Paper pp Ltd, since it had not taken any measures to reduce the intensity of pollution. The group of MLA�s comprised Satyabrat Kalita, Mrinal Saikia, Sheikh Shah Alam, Ranoj Pegu and Narayan Deka. The District Development Commissioner of Kamrup (R), officials of PCBA, Labour Commission and other Government officials were also present during the visit.