Puducherry MLA moves High Court against pharma factory expansion

The Madras High Court on Friday issued notices to various governmental bodies in Puducherry after an MLA filed a PIL opposing the expansion of a pharmaceutical industry.

The Division Bench comprising Justice V. Bharathidasan and Justice N. Seshasayee on Thursday issued notices to various authorities of the Government of Puducherry, including the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee, based on the appeal by MLA and NR Congress member Ashok Anand.

Mr. Anand alleged that M/s Strides Shasun Limited, which manufactures drugs such as Ibuprofen has been polluting the Kalapet area. Even in its present form, the factory was dangerous, he said. Moreover, the facility was located within the restricted zone of 6 km from the Puducherry coastline. Strides Shasun and other industries in Kakapet were “indiscriminately discharging industrial effluents, contaminating the drinking water and subsoil water in the nearby coastal villages....”

In this situation, the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee scheduled a public hearing on the expansion of the factory, from 4,800 tonnes to 9,156 tonnes per annum.

The hearing was scheduled for May 8.

The MLA, therefore, sought an interim injunction against holding the public hearing till his petition had been decided upon.