UP closes down 9 tanneries

The Uttar Pradesh government, in a bid to check the pollution at Sangam in Allahabad before the Ardh Kumba mela, has ordered the closure of nine tanneries and two yeast-manufacturing units in the state.

The nine leather processing units, the tanneries, are located in Kanpur while the two yeast-manufacturing units, Kothari Industries and Mother Yeast, are in Bulandsahar district. The mela begins tomorrow with the first bathing of Paush Poornima.

The government has also ordered the closure of Rana Paper Mills in Muzaffarnagar to check the flow of the untreated effluents in the river Ganges.

The state government in January last year, before the Maghmela at Allahababd, while complying with the Allahabad High Court's order, had ordered the closure of 15 tanneries in Kanpur. These tanneries are located along the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur and Unnao. Modi Paper Mill at Modinagar in Ghazaibad were also been closed down for controlling the pollution level in the Ganga. The 15 tanneries were still closed.

The Kanpur-based tanneries facing the axe are Ameen Enterprise, MI Saddle Works, Aslam Tanneries, Mugeeze tannery, SM Leather Finishers, Pahalwan tannery, Shoib Leather Works, Iqbal Ahmed tannery, Sunny Leathers, Firdaus Tannery, Taj Traders, Sahabuddin Tannery, Lisa Leathers, Liberty tanners.

Despite the closure of the polluting units along the course of Ganga the pollution levels were still high as the water availability at the Sangam was low. Despite the 1,800 Cusec of water released daily from Narora barrage in Aligarh district, since December 1, the water level of Ganga was stagnant in Allahabad .

The irrigation department sources said the water level of Ganga was stagnant in Allahabad as the lift canals between Aligarh and Kanpur were lifting the additional water released from Narora, thus leading to the problem of high pollution level at Allahabad.

UP government has allocated Rs 170 crore for the Ardh Kumbh mela. The Ardh Kumbh takes place at Sangam in Allahabad, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mystical river Saraswati. The Ardh kumbh falls after a gap of six years, which is one of the most important religious festival in India.

It mat be recalled that the Allahabad High Court on November 15, last year while disposing a PIL had directed the state government to ensure that sufficient water was released into river Ganga during the Ardh Kumbh mela which will see the influx of millions of devotees who would take a holy dip in the river.