By IANS,
Chennai : Promoters of industrial units that pollute must be prosecuted instead of shutting them down, a move that ends up punishing the poor workers, an NGO here says.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has asked Shasun Drugs to shut down its unit in Sipcot Industrial Estate in Cuddalore, around 200 km from here, for emitting pollutants beyond permissible limits.
The plant makes high-value anti-ulcerant bulk drugs for global majors.
“Our campaign is for the promoters’ accountability and not for the closure of units,” Shweta Narayan, coordinator of the Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM), told IANS.
CEM is a villagers group that monitors the environment in the Sipcot industrial estate.
“There are enough penal provisions under environmental laws that the TNPCB can evoke. Till date the board has not resorted to penal action against any unit,” Narayan added.