New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal today directed the tannery clusters located at Banther and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh on the banks of Ganga to install chromium recovery plants within four weeks so that they do not discharge any effluent in the drains pouring into the river.

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal today

directed the tannery clusters located at Banther and Unnao in

Uttar Pradesh on the banks of Ganga to install chromium

recovery plants within four weeks so that they do not

discharge any effluent in the drains pouring into the river.

            Chromium recovery plant helps in removing trivalent

chromium from tannery waste water which is produced during the

processing of animal hides.

            A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar

asked the leather units which have not set up these anti-

pollution devices to do so within the stipulated time and

warned that failure to do so would result in their closure.

            The green panel said it would pronounce its judgement on

the second phase of the Ganga cleaning project between

Haridwar to Unnao in Uttar Pradesh tomorrow.

            The Centre had earlier said that out of the 456 tanneries

identified to be polluting the Ganga when it flows through UP,

only 14 have been dismantled.

            Among the 442 functional tanneries, 437 units are divided

in three clusters -- Kanpur (400), Banther (23) and Unnao (14)

-- which are connected to Common Effluent Treatment Plants

that are non-compliant of Central Pollution Control Board

norms, the Centre had said.

            In April, the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government had

favoured the shifting of British-era tanneries releasing toxic

wastes into the river Ganga at Kanpur.

            The UP government had told the NGT that the hunt for a

new site for these leather units, which are the "major source

of pollution" in Ganga, was under consideration and would be

identified soon.

            Last year, the then Akhilesh Yadav government had opposed

the idea of shifting of over 400 tanneries giving employment

to over two million people, saying moving the tannery hubs to

some other place was almost "next to impossible" due to

paucity of land.

            The green panel, however, said the decision to shift

tannery cluster rested entirely with the state government.

            However, the existing industrial clusters at Jajmau and

Unnao required establishment of an entirely new Common

Effluent Treatment Plant with a separate chromium recovery

plant and separate pipelines.

            In a detailed report covering various aspects of

contamination in the river, CPCB had informed the NGT that the

Ganga, spanning a distance of 543 km between Haridwar and

Kanpur, was affected by 1,072 seriously polluting industries

which were releasing heavy metals and pesticides.

            Currently, 823.1 million litres per day (MLD) of

untreated sewage and 212.42 MLD of industrial effluent flows

into the river, while three of the four monitored Sewage

Treatment Plants were non-compliant with the set standards, it

said. PTI