Villagers protest brewery's pollution in Ghoramari, demand action

It is pertinent to mention that the Ghoramari-AIDC (Assam Industrial Development Corporation) area is an important site with 234 bighas of land. The area was a major grazing spot for the wild elephants. However, with a commitment to giving employment to local people, the government initially allowed two important industries – Patanjali and Dabur India Private Limited – to start their plants in the area for the production of different items. Recently, the beer production company named Sunit Breweries Private Limited has come up in the area, and now these three companies are running their businesses in the area. However, allegations are rife from the local public that Sunit Breweries Private Limited is giving priority solely to its business and ignoring the health-related risks created by its plant.

The residents of six villages of the greater area, including Uhani Pathar, Dhekidal, Sesa Panbari, Harchura Napam, Uhani Pathar, Botabari and Sopaguri, along with different organisations like Dhekidal Gudi Bathow Kherai Afat, All Bodo Students' Union, and Boro Sahitya Sabha, have alleged that the beer company is operating its plant without a functional effluent treatment plant and monitoring system.

"It regularly releases its untreated effluent in the natural waterways leading to our villages and paddy fields. This irresponsible act of Sunit Breweries Private Limited has led to severe pollution in the six nearby villages, filling the area with a foul odour and damaging the soil and groundwater quality. This pollution has the potential to cause cancer and other health hazards," said a local villager.

Vehemently condemning the company, members of the local public also said that they have already appealed to the beer company's authority many times for mitigating the unbearable condition created in the greater area by the release of untreated effluent, but the company authority has not shown even the minimum responsibility of understanding the public's woes.

It is important to mention that the greater area already has an unusually large number of cancer patients, and the local people feel that the pollution caused by the beer factory will aggravate the situation.

In this context, the local people alleged that the regional head of the Pollution Control Board in Tezpur is also responsible for this state of affairs. The Pollution Control Board authority has not taken any action against the company despite several complaints from the public. The local people further alleged that the Pollution Control Board authority is maintaining a nexus with the company, while the local village headman provided an NOC to the company just to earn some extra money.

While urging Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma to intervene in the matter, the local people said that the Chardwar revenue circle office authority has also been informed several times about the problem, but it has remained mum in this regard.

On the other hand, the local unemployed youths of the greater area said that though the three companies concerned were allowed to operate their plants with a commitment to provide jobs to the locals, this has not been done in the proper sense. Instead, these companies are hiring their workforce from outside the state.

The local people said that they will resort to a vigorous democratic movement if the government fails to ad- dress the problem without further delay.

By

Shambhu Boro