BELAGAVI/KALABURAGI: In a major development, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has ordered the closure of a sugar factory, owned by Vijayapura BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, at Chimmaidalai village of Chincholi taluk in Kalaburgi district.
According to sources, the Siddashri Sugar Factory has been ordered shut down for allegedly releasing contaminated water from the mill into the Mulamari dam.
Sources said the board has instructed the departments concerned to halt the supply of water and power to the factory for violating government guidelines. “The decision to initiate action against the factory was taken only after complaints from farmers that contaminated water was being released into the dam,” a source said.
Meanwhile, Yatnal said he will not be cowed down by such action of the government and will launch a legal battle to keep the factory open. Taking to X, he said the Congress-led government issued the closure notice for his factory as the party was unable to face him politically.
Yatnal said he had established the factory in a backward region with an objective to create jobs for the local people. It will not help anybody if the factory is closed for no logical reasons, he added.
Meanwhile, Forest and Ecology Minister Eshwar Khandre defended the government’s action.
“Yatnal’s factory crushed lakhs of tonnes of sugarcane without getting permission from the authority concerned. The Union government had penalised Yatnal Rs 1.5 crore for violating the Environmental Protection Act a year back. Yatnal has paid the penalty amount. When this is the case, the allegations levelled by Yatnal that the state government’s action was due to political reasons is baseless,” Khandre told reporters in Kalaburagi on Saturday.
In a meeting of the pollution control board held a week back, Khandre had asked officials to find out how many factories violated the Environment Protection Act and sought a report on the violators. Based on the report, the government started taking action against factories for polluting air and water, Khandre clarified.