Rohtak sugar mill's fly ash endangering lives

Sunit Dhawan

Rohtak, March 9

Fly ash emanating from the Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mill located at Bhali Anandpur village in Rohtak district has been playing havoc with the health of the residents of nearby villages.

The residents of Bhali Anandpur, Dobh, Baniyani, Maraudhi, Garhi and Lahli villages situated in the vicinity of the sugar mill have been running from pillar to post to get the issue resolved for years, but to no avail.

Residents facing health issues

The residents of nearby villages have been facing health issues like difficulty in breathing, burning sensation in eyes and other respiratory, heart and skin disorders due to the fly ash emitted by the mill. —Wazir Singh, Resident of bhali anandpur village

Manoj, a resident of Baniyani village, pointed out that apart from causing diseases, the fly ash covers the premises of houses, shops and offices located in villages around the mill. “The fly ash causes grave inconvenience to the farmers and farm labourers working in agricultural fields. It also leads to the blackening of clothes and other household articles,” he added.

Ravinder, a local shopkeeper, said the mill was established in 2007 and has led to increase in air pollution and causes multifarious problems to the residents.

Baniyani sarpanch Om Prakash maintained that he, along with the sarpanches of the other affected villages, had met the Rohtak Deputy Commissioner and submitted a representation in this regard. “He assured us that action would be taken to resolve the issue,” said

the sarpanch.

Villagers rued that even Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was apprised of the issue during his recent visit to the area, but to no avail.

Rohtak DC Yash Pal, who is also the chairman of the sugar mill’s board of directors, said he had looked into the matter and found that the devices/equipment like wet scrubber and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) installed at the mill to check pollution had not given the desired results.