 "Pollution control board probes 'foul smell' at Biocon plant")
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) conducted a surprise inspection of Biocon's manufacturing facility at Bommasandra Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Wednesday.
This follows a complaint by Right to Information activist and former Indian Air Force officer G B Athri about foul smell emanating from the facility. A team of experts from KSPCB recorded the statement of the factory management and studied the manufacturing practices followed by the company.
"Our technical team was sent to check the foul smell based on the complaint. The Board was also told that Biocon was not taking proper pollution control measures. The team went to examine if scientific garbage disposal measures were being adopted," M N Vijay Kumar, member secretary, KSPCB, told Business Standard.
The team that visited the Biocon facility would give a final report in a week or two, he said. "They (the team) will have to study their findings before giving a report."
When contacted, a Biocon spokesperson said the company was "committed to implementing the best environment management practices and has remained in full compliance with all stipulated guidelines at all times". The company claimed it had not received any notice recently from the KSPCB on environment-related non-compliance.
"We are constantly audited by international regulatory agencies and we frequently undergo audits by global customers. We have also received several awards complimenting our environment, health and safety standards," the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson confirmed that the KSPCB team was shown the systems and practices deployed by the company, adding: "Biocon follows global best practices with respect to environment management and is continuously investing in enhancing its systems."
According to the company, it has remained in full compliance "with all stipulated guidelines at all times". The spokesperson added: "The company has deployed ISO 14001 certified environment management system, which is the most reputed environment management benchmark."