| In its order, the PCB said the company's reply to its notice of July 1 seeking clarification on the source of cadmium in the sludge discharged from the plant was not satisfactory. |
| "It was detected by the board that due to existence of cadmium in the effluent as well as in the sludge, the groundwater in the vicinity was found contaminated," the order said. |
| The board also said the company had failed to provide drinking water facility to people in the affected areas as directed by the Supreme Court (SC) monitoring committee. |
| The company is reviewing the order and assessing its implications. "We are in the process of evaluating the future steps including a judicial review," said a spokesperson. |
| The plant had remained closed for about two years before it resumed production of soda bottling only a few days ago. |
| The decision came at a time when the plant was preparing to resume full production on the strength of a Kerala High Court order which had asked the panchayat of Perumatty, where the plant is located, to renew the plant's licence. |
| The local body, however, moved the SC against the order. It also charged the company with failure to install a reverse osmosis system for better effluent treatment as directed by it and the SC monitoring committee. |
| While issuing the order, the Kerala PCB rejected the company's written argument terming the board's earlier notice as 'ultra vires', prejudicial and amounting to judicial indiscipline. |
| The PCB held that no person, institution, establishment or company had got the right to pollute drinking water as declared by the SC and the Kerala High Court. |
| Noting that its operations were causing environmental problems the board said it was exercising powe rs under sections of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) 1974 Act to refuse consent for continuing operations and stop all kinds of production with immediate effect. |
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