Pollution by a distillery in Umuri, Jeypore block, has been giving locals sleepless nights. While the stench from the distillery is unbearable for thousands of passers-by who cross the Visakahpatanam Raipur national highway through Umuri, toxic water from it has been entering water bodies.
The distillery was opened with permission of the district administration 10 years back and thousands of litres of liquor is being produced every day.
Locals allege that the distillery authorities do not treat the water before releasing it, besides poisonous gases are being released through the plant that pollutes the area.
Even as villagers of Randapali, Umuri, Ekamba, Amabaguda, Jeypore, Badakudi, Dhanpur, Putra, Majurmunda, Sankaudi and Jeypore blocks that are located nearby the distillery have apprised authorities concerned about the problem, it has not yielded any result.
Sources in the administration said as officials of the pollution control board have not visited the distillery for a long time, violation of pollution control norms have become the order of the day. To make things worse, the distillery does not have any senior officials to keep a tab on the problem.
Jeypore Sub-Collector Birendra Korkra admitted to receiving complaints in this regard previously. “We will take up the issue with the Pollution Control Board,” he said.