Withdrawnotice, allowustooperate: Dombivliindustriestellauthorities

SAFETY NORMS FLOUTED Industry owners had to call off strike but have appealed to pollution board to not act stringently

KALYAN : The industrialists in Dombivli, who had protested over the closure notices served to them last week, have now written to the authorities to withdraw the notices.

On March 13, they started an indefinite strike called by industrialists of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) but called it off because of coronavirus outbreak.

They protested against the notices issued by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and department for Industrial health and safety.

The Kalyan-Ambernath Manufacturers Association (KAMA) has written to the authorities, asking them to withdraw the notice and allow companies to function.

“We are suffering a loss in business due to coronavirus and if the authorities ask us to close the companies or pay fines, how are we supposed to sustain? We have asked the authorities to show leniency,” said Devendra Soni, president of KAMA.

They also asked the authorities to keep a watch on the companies and if they don’t follow the necessary norms, then take action.

“When there is a scope for improvement, we want the authorities to not be so strict that it ends up closing down MIDC entirely,” added Soni.

After receiving closure and show-cause notices from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and industrial safety and health department, industrialists from Dombivli Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) started an indefinite strike.

Last month, a road near Tempo naka in Dombivli MIDC turned pink because of untreated chemical effluents flowing into the dug-up portion of drainage line work.

Later, a major fire in a Metropolitan Eximchem company also raised major concerns over fire safety in companies and environmental norms in the industrial area..

After the incidents, the authorities have been inspecting companies regularly and taking action against violations.

More companies will receive show-cause notice in the coming days, they said. While some have even got notices asking to pay hefty fines and some asked to remove the encroachments in the MIDC region

KAMA said there are 475 companies in Dombivli MIDC, out of this, 123 are chemical and 128 are textile companies.

In a meeting with the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday, officials of MPCB, MIDC and industrial health and safety department gave details on action taken against the companies after the two incidents in

Dombivli MIDC, which highlighted the rising pollution.

An official from the industrial health and safety department, requesting anonymity of name, said, “The action by the authorities is not to shut down MIDC it is basically to ensure the norms are followed by the companies. After the two incidents, the CM is strict on taking action against the companies violating norms.”

“There is a misconception among the industrialists that the government plans to shut the industrial belt, which is wrong. The government wants those to function without harming the environment,” added the official.

A total of 23 companies have received closure notices in Dombivli MIDC by the MPCB recently.

“After the company follows all norms, they can again apply for permission to operate in the industrial region. They will be allowed to function once they prove that they have improved their safety and are following all environmental norms,” said an official of MPCB, Kalyan, who did not wish to be named

KALYAN: After the announcement of a separate municipal council for 18 villages, residents have decided to meet the chief minister and demand that all 27 villages should be included in the civic body.

The all-party union of the villages, Sarvapakshiya Hakka Saurakshan Sangharsh Samiti, met on Sunday and decided to not accept the formation of a municipal council for 18 villages only. The residents have decided to meet the CM soon with their demand.

On Saturday, after almost a wait of five years since the 27 villages were included in the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), Uddhav Thackeray announced that a separate municipal council for 18 villages will be formed.

The nine villages will continue to be part of KDMC.

“Our demand was to have a civic body for all the 27 villages. What is the point in have a new municipal council for only 18 villages? The state’s decision is taking into account the upcoming civic elections. The 18 villages have Bharatiya Janata Party corporators while the 9 villages have Shiv Sena corporators,”said Chandrakant Patil, president of all-party union of 27 villages.

The 27 villages, which were under gram panchayat rule, were included in the KDMC in June 2015.

Followed by this, the civic body conducted the civic elections in its 122 wards including the 27 villages.

The KDMC elections will be held this year.

“The nine villages are income generating for the civic body because of the booming real estate. We will not tolerate this biased decision. We want a separate civic body for all the 27 villages together,” said Patil.

Sunday’s meeting was attended by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLA Raju Patil and hundreds of villagers.

The villagers said they are not happy with KDMC as they face water scarcity regularly, the roads are bad and also there is no proper development in the villages.

“In the past five years, we expected the civic body to solve our water woes. The civic body has not even set up water supply network in the villages,” said Vilas Shirke, 39, a resident of Sandap village.

At present, there are 122 wards in KDMC, and as per sources, the civic body would have 116 wards before the next civic elections.

“Once the government passes the resolution, the work of revising the wards will be undertaken. This state’s decision is yet to be finalised,”said an officer of KDMC, who did not wish to be named.