Udhagamandalam: As many as 130 employees of Sterling Biotech Ltd, a private industrial unit manufacturing edible and non-edible grade gelatin at Sandynallah in Ooty, staged a protest on Monday demanding salary arrears.
The pollution control board (PCB) had closed the company in June 2018 after the firm failed to set up zero liquid discharge system.
After the company was closed for causing environmental pollution, the employees are given 50% of the salary while the management cadres draw full salary, said U Murthi, a union leader.
“They had agreed to set up zero liquid discharge system within six months. But even after two years, they have not taken any initiative to reopen it,” he said.
Revenue department officials have scheduled a talk with the employees, company management and the labour commission on Wednesday.
The factory was established in 1969 at Sandynallah, a hamlet on the main Ooty – Gudalur – Mysore highway. It was managed by Rallis India, a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals, before Sterling Biotech Ltd took over.