Jajmau tanneries volunteer to shut down from January 11 to 21 for Kumbh

KANPUR: All tanneries in Jajmau area of the city will remain closed from January 11 to January 21 to keep Ganga water clean and free from pollution.
The owners of as many as 26 tanneries of the area, in their written submissions, stated on Wednesday that they themselves were closing their units voluntarily from January 11 to January 21 so that holy baths could take place in clean and pollution free water, said Kuldeep Mishra, chief environment officer of regional pollution board while talking to TOI.

He said, earlier it was planned to shut all running tanneries three days prior to the holy bath but on Wednesday the tannery owners themselves announced to close their units for ten days. He said out of 225 tanneries in Jajmau, 249 tanneries had been closed on different dates for flouting directives of the pollution board and for passing their effluent in conveyor channels.

UP Pollution Control Board had permitted them to operate their units uninterrupted with 50 percent capacity as it would control river pollution, but many of them run their units with full capacity, he added.

To ensure that devouts be able to take dip in Ganga during Kumbh, water is being discharged from Ganga barrage into its downstream on regular basis. For this, water is being discharged from Narora dam into Ganga which is stocked for a while before being released further from the barrage into the downstream, Mishra said.

“Over 7,000 cusecs of water was released from the barrage into Ganga’s downstream on Wednesday. Similar quantity of water was also released on Tuesday. Regular supply of water is being maintained to ensure that enough water remains in Ganga in Prayagraj so that devotees get a chance to have a dip in Ganga during Kumbh”, said an irrigation department official.

Meanwhile, regional pollution control board team inspected Jajmau area and randomly checked the pumping stations and their channels. The team found that the sewer water of Jajmau area is being passed to Sheetala Bazar pumping station.

Mishra said that he strongly objected to pumping of domestic sewage water into Sheetala Bazar pumping station. RK Agarwal, general manager, river pollution control unit of jal nigam while counteringthe objection raised by Mishra, said that tanneries used to discharge their effluent in domestic sewer lines as well as in their channels.

“As the tanneries are closed, the channels have dried up, and, to ensure that polluted water does not go into Ganga, the discharge of Sheetala Bazar nullah is being diverted to the pumping station and from there to CETP for its treatment. I myself had asked to divert the sewage water to Sheetala Bazar pumping station and as a result of no polluted water is being discharged into the river”, Agarwal said.