Three disposing chemical waste held

Vadodara: Three persons including a local operator of a Mumbai-based healthcare products manufacturing company were arrested on Saturday for disposing waste chemical in a pit at their under-construction unit in Savli taluka.
Based on a tip-off, cops from the local crime branch (LCB) of Vadodara rural police raided the premises of Synergia Life Sciences Pvt Ltd on the outskirts of Tundav village and found two persons, identified as Umesh Parmar and Ranjitsinh Gohil, disposing the waste chemical in an underground pit within their premises.
Police said that the duo had emptied around 4,400 litres of chemical in the pit which was emitting severe stench. When questioned about their illegal action, they couldn’t give any satisfactory answer, said cops.
Police called one Biren Patel, the operator of the unit who lives in Fatehgunj, along with officials from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) for inspection.
“The operator tried to hide under excuses that he wasn’t aware about the illegal activity,” said a police official.
However, cops arrested Patel, Parmar and Gohil and booked an offence at Bhadarwa police station for negligent conduct with poisonous substance, endangering life and personal safety of other and different sections of the Environment (Protection) Act.
“GPCB officials will let us know what chemical it was after their tests are over. However, our investigation has revealed that chemical was being disposed in a similar manner around 20 days ago too,” said inspector D B Vala of LCB.
He added that since the unit is still under-construction, the company was sending the waste chemical from its other facilities over here for disposal.
“We will also be making the directors and other administrators of the company as the accused in the case,” Vala added.