Kumbh mela: HC allows 2 tanneries operate if they don't discharge effluent in Ganga

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has permitted two tanneries in Kanpur and Unnao to operate on the condition that they do not discharge effluent in the Ganga, its tributaries or drains emptying into the river, in view of the Kumbh Mela.

The mela on the banks of the Ganga in Allahabad will begin on January 15 and end March 4 on Shiv Ratri. It is expected to be attended by crores of people from several countries.During the congregation lakhs of people take dips in the sacred river.

The tanneries in two separate petitions have said the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) has asked them not to operate between December 15 and March 15, 2019, in view of Kumbh Mela.

They contended that the closure would lead to several people loosing their jobs.

The court's Lucknow bench directed that the factories will make their own arrangements for the use of discharged water, which will be as per norms of the UPPCB or the Central Pollution Control Board.

The bench of justices RR Awasthi and Rajeev Singh has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a detailed reply on the issue by January 4.

The interim order was passed Thursday on separate petitions moved by Rahman Industries Ltd and Mirza International Ltd.

The petitions said on the directions of the state government, the UPPCB had issued an order on November 26 closing the tanneries in Kanpur and Unnao from December 15 to March 15 in view of the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

On account of the order, the petitioners said they had to close the tanneries.

It was said due to closure of the tanneries 20,000 people could become jobless.

The government will also incur revenue losses of crores of rupees due to this closure, the petitioners contended.

"We will also have to suffer losses of crores of rupees for not being able to deliver the consignments to clients due to closure," they said.

Responding to the petitioners' concern, the UPPCB submitted that its only concern was that during the period of Kumbh Mela, the water in the river should remain clean and usable and it must not lead to any untoward incident.

The UPPCB also submitted that in case the petitioners were giving an undertaking that they were not going to make any discharge of effluent during the Kumbha Mela period in the river water, it has no objection if the factories were run.