HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), in its meeting held on January 30, granted Environmental Clearance (EC) for the expansion of the bulk drugs and intermediaries manufacturing unit of Piramal Enterprises at Digwal in Kohir mandal of Sangareddy district.
The unit had been slapped a fine of Rs 8.3 crore by another arm of the Telangana government — the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) — after a joint committee of experts had noted violations of various pollution-control norms. The joint committee was constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and based on its inspection report and recommendation, the TSPCB had imposed a fine of Rs 8.3 crore for violations that had continued for 1,386 days.
The EC comes even as a petition on the matter is being heard in the green court. Piramal Enterprises has filed an Executive Application in the NGT seeking to set aside the Rs 8.3-crore fine, alleging that the TSPCB did not give the accused an opportunity to present its side. However, while the NGT gave 45 days to the plant to present its side, it did not set aside the order and asked the TSPCB to collect 50 per cent of the fine.
It may also be mentioned here that the public hearing conducted in October 2018 on the expansion of the plant, as part of the process of seeking EC, had witnessed strong opposition from the locals. As many as 498 villagers from Kohir, Digwal and surrounding villages, who did not get a chance to speak at the public hearing, submitted their opposition in writing against the plant’s expansion.
According to the executive summary on the expansion project submitted as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment report that is available in the public domain, the expansion will enhance the capacity of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient manufacturing plant from 363.16 TPM (total productive maintenance) to 505.47 TPM in the existing area of 79 acres.
The capital cost for the expansion is Rs 250 crore — towards enhancement of a zero liquid discharge facility, production blocks, utilities and ‘debottlenecking’ and additional equipment.