Gujarat charges pharma major for pollution

 
By Mahesh L
Published: Friday 15 December 2006

the Gujarat High Court has issued notices to Alembic Ltd, the Gujarat government and Gujarat State Pollution Control Board (gpcb) over contamination of groundwater in Paneval village in Panchamahal district of Gujarat.

The Vadodara-based Alembic, one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in India, has a plant in the village manufacturing bulk drugs.

Farmers of Paneval led by Vinay Puri--who owns a farm adjacent to Alembic--approached the High Court following the contamination of groundwater from untreated effluents discharged by the company.

Following several complaints by farmers on the gross reduction in agricultural production, the gpcb sent a team for spot inspection in August 2006. They confirmed the "severe contamination" of water in the wells and the village pond and issued a closure notice to the unit. However, the company was given a reprieve by gpcb. The plant started functioning again on September 15 on certain conditions, which were not disclosed. This fact was raised in the petition.

According to Puri, the company had reportedly given an assurance to take certain corrective measures to improve the situation. "But no measure has been initiated by the company so far," he said.

The petitioner pleaded that a committee be appointed to assess and quantify the damages and to suggest a permanent solution to the problem. He also asked that farmers be compensated adequately.

The next hearing has been scheduled for December 7.

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