Kumbh 2019: Sugar mills warned not to discharge effluents in Ganga basin

Weeks before the next crushing season kicks off, pollution watchdog Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Monday asked Uttar Pradesh sugar mills to ensure zero effluent discharge, especially in the Ganga Basin.

Of the 119 state-owned and private sugar mills in UP, 39 mills or roughly 35%, fall in the catchment of the river.

In a stern message, CPCB additional director Ajit Vidyarthi said in Lucknow since sugar industry was related to farmers, the mills were generally not ordered to shut down during the crushing season. Yet he warned of a hefty fine following a recent National Green Tribunal (NGT) order against