Complete the unfinished project of deep sea discharge for dyestuff industry

- Antenna - Vivek Mehta

- Dilapidated condition of dyes intermediates industry, which contributes more than 25 percent to exports: 6 lakh people employed in manufacturing units at risk

There has been a demand for speedy commissioning of the approved project of a pipeline to discharge polluted water from Ahmedabad's dye and dyes intermediates into the sea. Fears have also been expressed that delaying the matter or planning to relocate industries will sound the death knell of the dye-dyes intermediates industry.

As many as 3,000 small units of dyes and dyes intermediates have also been requested not to shift them to another location considering the huge cost incurred behind the CETP-Common Effluent Treatment Plant to treat and discharge the contaminated water. If shifted from Ahmedabad to another place, the dye and dyes intermediates industry providing direct employment to four lakh people and indirect employment to two lakh people will be lost.

Thus, in the period from 2018 to 2021, Rs. The paper work of laying a 130 km long pipeline to discharge 350 mega gallons of water into the deep sea at a cost of 1770 crores has been completed. But the implementation of the Kalpsar scheme caused a technical problem. As a result, there was a need to rethink the project. After that this operation has not progressed even today. As a result, the industry is booming. For this, it has been demanded to implement the new plan and start the non-started operations. There has been a demand to complete the pipeline project by going beyond the obstruction due to Kalpsar. Yes, in the letter to the Chief Minister, the feeling of vigilance is also expressed in the letter to the Chief Minister to ensure that the expenditure incurred for the same does not put an intolerable burden on the industry. Even for older projects there is little contribution from the industry.

In Gujarat, industrial estates including Ankleshwar, Saikha, Dahej, Vapi-Sarigam, Padra have been provided with deep sea discharge facility. Only the industrial units of Ahmedabad are deprived of it. It is equally necessary to provide this facility to them. As such, they will be considered to have got the same opportunity as other industries in Gujarat. In a presentation to the Chief Minister by the Gujarat Dyestuff Manufacturing Association, 95 percent of the total units of dyes and dyes intermediates in Ahmedabad are very small units. He has done his best to provide good common effluent treatment and also achieved environmental norms. They have also been requested to take care that they are not burdened with new expenses.

Another option is to dispose of contaminated water. An alternative is to dispose of contaminated water by heating it to steam using ZLD technology, but is four to five times more expensive. Deep sea discharge is the only option in this situation. ZLD technology is not used in developed or underdeveloped countries around the world for this reason. It also causes air pollution due to excessive fuel consumption. The industries also bear the burden of disposing the waste generated from it in landfill sites.