HYDERABAD: IN a major move towards regulating antibiotic pollution of water bodies and the issue of antimicrobial resistance arising out of it, the Central government has notified draft rules titled ‘Environmental Standards for Bulk Drug and Formulation (Pharmaceutical) Industry’, which aims to limit the concentration of antibiotics and other toxins in effluents released by bulk drug and pharmaceutical industry.
The draft notification specifies maximum residues for as many as 121 antibiotics that can be present in the treated effluent of bulk drug and formulation industry and also in the outlet of the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP). Apart from this, the draft notification also presents maximum concentrations for various other parameters, including heavy metals and hexavalent chromium.
An online petition addressed to Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been started by some environmentalists in support of the draft notification. This draft notification has a huge significance for Telangana, home to around 400 bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulation companies, many of which are located in and around Hyderabad. Also, the State has planned to develop the Hyderabad Pharma City over a span of 19,333 acres just outside Hyderabad.
Hyderabad is notorious for presence of high concentrations of antibiotics in water bodies like the Musi river and Kazipally lake. Environmentalist from the city, Donthi Narasimha Reddy said, “We have been demanding separate standards for effluents released by bulk drug and pharma companies and inclusive antibiotic residues for more than two decades. It is late, but still a good move.”