Rajkot: Twenty-six sari printing units at Dhareshwar GIDC of Jetpur taluka in Rajkot have shut down following a closure notice by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) over upgradation of the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) there.This is the third closure notice issued by the board to the industry association in past one year.According to GPCB, the industry association at Dhareshwar has not upgraded the effluent treatment plant as proposed to the environment watchdog and were allegedly releasing untreated water into Bhadar river.The closure notice issued on August 16 assumes significance as just last week Dhoraji MLA from Congress Lalit Vasoya had held a protest over the pollution in Bhardar river by the sari industries of Jetpur.The GPCB notice stated that the 26 sari printing units were releasing nearly 1.5 lakh litre water per day into the river despite the fact that the current operational CETP in the Dhareshwar GIDC has capacity of processing 91,000 litre waste. It is further alleged that the untreated water being released was polluting the irrigation land also.The board also found 2,915mg of total dissolved solids (TDS) per litre and 1,461mg chemical oxygen demand (COD) per litre in the water released from the CETP, which is very high compared to the prescribed norms. GPCB inspectors also observed that the industrial association violated the consolidated consent and authorization (CCA) issued by the board which is in force till August 13, 2019.Earlier, closure notices were issued on August 28, 2017, and March 10 this year. In the latest notice, GPCB has mentioned that the industry association failed to implement the plans proposed to the board on March 10.President of Dhareshwar GIDC unit’s association Haresh Bhuva said, “We are being made scapegoats. The GPCB came to take sample at 10 in the night when it was raining. As a result, the water level at CETP was high. We are releasing maximum 80,000 litre per day against the processing capacity of 91,000 litre. We also reused some of the water in our industry. It is not possible for us to release the water in Bhadar river as we are far from it.”

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