Bangle- makers get green option

IIT- K’s eco- friendly alternative

The Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT) Kanpur has found an eco- friendly way to make bangles.

The UP pollution control department had recently asked 13 bangle manufacturing units to put a stop on the use of lustre in bangle industry.

An expert team of IIT- K has now assured the manufacturers that it is soon going to come up with an alternate method that will allow them to stop the use of highly lustrous ferric chloride in the making of bangles.

The IIT- K team, comprising Vinod Tor, Tarun Gupta and Rakesh Misra, conducted a three- hour inspection and made note of the difficulties faced by factory owners.

The chemical has been found to have very harmful effects on humans as well as buildings.

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board had served notices to 13 bangle factories about a month ago but the matter was deferred till November after the intervention of local Samajwadi Party MP Akshay Yadav.

“A trail run will be conducted in one of the factories and if found successful, the new method will be given clearance by the pollution control board. Industrialists are now expecting a way which will help them tide over this crisis,” the IITK team.

The Allahabad high court had ordered a ban on the use of ferric chloride last year after a local advocate filed a PIL highlighting health hazards.