Times
of India: Bhubaneswar: Saturday, 18 April 2015.
Information
obtained through RTI Act revealed that only 18 hotels in Puri have obtained
consent to operate (CTO) and set up sewerage treatment plants.
This is
contrary to claims by Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) that it is
cracking down on hotels, violating pollution control norms in the Holy city.
The National
Green Tribunal (NGT) on February 26 asked the board to be stricter against
polluting hotels in Puri.
Information
obtained by environment campaigner Tapan Kumar Mohanty revealed that less than
5% hotels of 525 are running with board's permission.
He said,
"Untreated waste water, generated by hotels, is not only polluting the sea
near Bankimuhana, where the waste is discharged, but also causing contamination
of groundwater."
The board in
September 2014 had enlisted 11 hotels against whom it had clinching evidence of
violating pollution control norms. But it sealed only five hotels. Later, the
five were allowed to reopen after depositing certain bank guarantee.
"After
we acted strongly against the hoteliers, they moved the high court, challenging
our move. The association feels that pollution board has set a lower limit of
bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), a chemical content that reduces oxygen, in
waste water," said OSPCB regional officer (Bhubaneswar) Hadibandhu
Panigrahi.
"The
board has fixed BOD at 75 mg a litre of water as the permissible limit for the
hoteliers in Puri, taking into account local factors," he added.
According to
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the BOD standard limit is 350 mg a litre of
water. "It is not convincing why the pollution board has lowered it in
case of hotels in Puri," said Puri Hotel Association secretary Rajkishore
Patra.
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