Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: Yesterday the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) lettered to the bakery units here in which it was a request to them to apply for its ‘consent to operate’.
The consent would legally validate the functioning of the units. This happened when the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had directed all the state boards to bring in all the green category industries under pollution watch in September. As per the new rule, the units which produce less than one tonne of bakery products in one day come under the green category and units which produce more than one tonne come under the orange category. This is categorized according to the pollution emitted by a particular industry’s unit.
Earlier, units been given a green tag did not have to obtain permission from the pollution board for operating. A time span of one month has been given to all the Bakery units for the application process and those units which fail to apply in them will be served with a showcause notice. This was informed by Hadibandhu Panigrahi, regional officer of OSPCB’s Bhubaneswar office. On being served with the notice, if the explanation for not applying for consent within the stipulated time is not found satisfactory, a notice of closure will be issued. The pollution control board states that none of the 10 bakery units operating here have the consent of the pollution board. “If in the later stages, we come to know about if the operation of more bakery factories comes to fore then they would be asked to apply for a consent. However, the pollution board is yet to prick out those bakery units having the production strength of more than one tonne in a day.
The bakery units of the city have come under pollution watch owing to their use of huge quantities of water during processing. The waste water is discharged into drains and roads, causing immense water pollution. It’s stated that the waste water released by bakery units contains Biochemical Oxygen Demand which reduces oxygen in water. This, in turn, produces a foul smell making the water green.
