Intensifying his efforts to get rivers of the state pollution free, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Saryu Roy has handed over a petition to Governor Draupadi Murmu related to his recent inspection visits of number of locations. The Minister informed her that this was not the first time that he went for such a visit.
Roy said to her that in May 2004 also he along with volunteers of Save Damodar had gone for a similar visit from Chuan Pani (where Damodar emerges from) to Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) headquarters in Kolkata. This one week journey-cum-visit ended on World Environment Day (June 5) that year. He also held industries liable for continuously contaminating this important river and its tributaries in the State.
He said that his efforts resulted in a ray of hope last year, when he requested to Coal and Energy Minister at centre Piyush Goyal for an interference regarding the same, after which Goyal took a meeting of senior officials of those companies and directed all of them not to make liquid or solid waste fall in the river. They all agreed to prepare action plans within three months, but none other than DVC presented any action plan.
Roy apprised to the Governor that in his recent visit to Damodar from 29 May, he witnessed something unacceptable. Chasnala washery of SAIl and Sudamdih washery of CCl has been just killing Damodar. Madhuban washery of BCCl has destroyed Jamunia, subsidiary of Damodar. “Good thing is that DVC has managed to control the pollution from its new thermal plant at Chandrapura, which has started showing positive results.
But even Shaktipith Rajrappa has not been spared, as Bhairavi is one of the worst affected,” he said.
Though he also informed the Governor that there are a couple of locations where companies have stopped dropping waste and river is turning its actual face. But the situation is threatening as a whole. Roy urged the Governor to take prompt and effective actions, so that the lifelines of state become life-giving and not life-taking one.