J&K Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (SICOP) , a Public Sector undertaking under the command and control of J&K Government, manages around 58 industrial units across J&K. SICOP was incorporated as a company under Indian Companies Act 1956 around 50 years back i.e November 28, 1975. This Govt owned company claims that it has authorized share capital of Rs. 100.00 crore and paid up capital of Rs. 89.91 crore. The main objective of SICOP is promotion and development of the Small Scale Industries in the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
According to the mission statement of J&K SICOP available on its website, the company is a profit earning organization and is not receiving any budgetary support from the J&K Government. This is quite encouraging as most of the Govt owned Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are running in losses. All the revenue expenditures are being generated internally and have no statutory/non-statutory liability as on date.
During the financial year 2018-19, SICOP had achieved a turnover of Rs 684.39 Crore with cash surplus of Rs 5.88 crore. During the financial year 2019-20 (ending 3rd Quarter), SICOP had achieved a turnover of Rs 507.57 crore against target of Rs 700.00 crore with cash surplus of Rs 4.43 Crore. From 2019 onwards the revenue details are not available on its website.
Among 58 industrial estates, the SICOP controls and manages 525 kanals Industrial Estate Zainakote in Srinagar. As this Govt owned company claims that it has a huge turnover in crores and is the profit earning organisation and doesn’t get any grant from Govt, why are its Industrial Estates in a very pathetic condition?
On the request of local residents of the Zainakote area I recently visited the industrial estate Zainakot and I found this entire area in shambles which punctures the tall claims of SICOP.
Misleading info provided by SICOP
The SICOP claims that all its 58 industrial estates are provided with modern infrastructural facilities like better road networks, water, power, drainage system and above all the Common Effluent Treatment Plants-CETPs. These details available on SICOP website under its activities link and industrial estates link which reads as :
“All the Industrial Estates are being provided with all infrastructural facilities like Road network, water supply, internal Power distribution, drainage system besides CETP, Common facility Centre, which houses Conference Hall, Bank Counter, Dispensary, ATM, Cafeteria etc. SICOP also established a Receiving station through which units are being provided dedicated power supply.”
The situation on the ground is so bad that I can’t explain it in words. The road network is terrible with solid waste lying scattered on its sides. The drains are overflowing with sewerage and above all the industrial waste , effluents are being pumped out which enter the residential areas in Zainakote especially the Ansari lane, Rose Avenue and adjoining areas. The SICOP claims that all its industrial estates have better road connectivity , drainage system and are equipped with Central Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) but when I went to one of its Industrial Estates at Zainakote I didn’t see any of this. Instead of treating the effluents and hazardous waste, the same is being pumped out into residential colonies.
In the last 45 years, the SICOP has failed to set up a Centralized Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) which is itself a criminal act and the J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) must take serious notice of it.
Local Residents suffer
The residents living around Industrial Estate Zainakote are very much impacted with the discharge of liquid waste especially the hazardous effluents. Due to absence of any facility to treat this waste, the same is being pumped out on the main road which then enters the residential colonies like Ansari lane and Rose Avenue. During my visit to this area, the residents whom I met told me that SICOP management which manages Zainakote Industrial Estate has been ignoring their pleas for redressal of their problem. I filed a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMjHUlr-1OM&t=32s report as well.
Earlier, the local residents had submitted a written representation to Member Secretary J&K Pollution Control Committee. The Member Secretary assured them and me as well that JKPCC will act but till date no action has been taken even after two weeks.
This matter was brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner Srinagar as well. He directed that the issue be addressed but on the ground no restoration work was done. The locals of Zainakote have already informed Managing Director SICOP and other higher-ups of the administration about the issue, the aggrieved residents alleged that no measures have been taken in this regard so far.
The residents of Zainakote and HMT areas are now at health risk as the hazardous liquid waste enters the water table which is impacting the ground water. This has been happening for the last several decades and J&K Pollution Control Committee has not even bothered to check this.
When this author went to meet the officers of SICOP at Zainakote along with the local residents of Zainakote on 14th August at their office, I was asked to meet the Divisional Manager who was not available. I was referred to various other officers who were all confused and nothing meaningful came out of my interactions with them as I was sent from one person to another.
NGT’s order on Industrial Waste
The National Green Tribunal-NGT in July 2020 directed Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state pollution control boards/ committees to ensure that no permit is given to any new industry which generates hazardous effluents till facilities for disposal of such waste are made available. The NGT directed CPCB to enforce its directions for recovery of compensation for the continuing damage to the environment as per ‘Polluter Pays’ principle.
A bench headed by the then NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel asked CPCB to set up a system to cross verify the status of hazardous waste generating industries and also direct state pollution control boards to impose environmental compensation against delinquent industries.
“CPCB and pollution control boards may not permit any new industry having potential to generate hazardous waste till facilities for disposal of such waste are ensured,” the bench said.
Conclusion
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its order dated May 28, 2020, states that any industrial unit that requires “consent to operate” from the State Pollution Control Board / Committee must have a primary effluent treatment plant (ETP) in place. The order also states that no industry that requires an ETP will be allowed to operate without one. I am unable to understand how the erstwhile J&K Pollution Control Board which is called J&K Pollution Control Committee (in UTs) has allowed SICOP to run the Industrial Estate at Zainakote Srinagar where huge effluents are produced every day and the same is not being treated at all.
When a private entrepreneur wants to set up some business centre that requires PCC’s consent, it takes months to get such clearance but it is an irony that for the last 40 years the hazardous waste from Zainakote Industrial Estate is not being treated and PCB/ PCC has been tight-lipped?
In addition to SICOP, the JKPCC is also equally responsible for this criminal offence and severe environmental lapse. Due to inaction, the intervention of National Green Tribunal would be inevitable which may lead to imposition of huge Environmental Compensation on SICOP and JKPCC as well.
This is not the case with only Industrial Estate (IE) Zainakote but most of our industrial estates lack this facility and there should be a hazardous waste audit done by competent authority in all the IE’s managed by J&K Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (SICOP).
Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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