Former Union secretary seeks action on industrial units

Visakhapatnam: The industrial units in Munagapaka mandal in the district are releasing effluents without scientific treatment into drinking water bodies and agricultural lands in Gantavanipalem village causing huge pollution.

Taking a serious note on the issue, former Union secretary EAS Sarma informed it to Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) Chairman B S S Prasad and member secretary Vivek Yadav seeking action on it. “Is not APPCB obligated to inspect such cases and prosecute the culprit industrial units? For small offences committed in this country, lakhs of poor people are forced into jails as under trials, whereas promoters of these units can flourish and make money.

The kind of pollution that is generated by these units injures the health of people in an irreversible manner. Should not the promoters of these units and those APPCB officers who are in connivance with them be prosecuted for the criminality involved?” Sarma questioned. APPCB officers have a role to play under the various environmental laws and they are paid by the tax-payer to play that role.

If they fail to discharge their responsibilities, they should be penalised both through deterrent fines and through criminal prosecution, Sarma said in his letter. He also pointed out that if the APPCB does not take immediate steps to arrest the toxic chemicals, the people would come to a decision that the board is completely non-functional.