Water pollution: Gujarat high court warns Rajkot's dyeing units

The Gujarat high court has asked the dyeing and cloth-printing units located in and around Jetpur town, Rajkot district, why they should not be closed as they were polluting the water bodies in the area.

The court also asked the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to publish a public notice informing the units that they might be closed unless they stopped using the illegally constructed washing ghats and polluting the water bodies in the area.

However, the court also stated that if, after closure, it was found that any unit had taken steps to ensure that it was no more discharging effluents in water bodies, rivers, or dams, it might be allowed to reopen. Such a unit will also have to stop using the illegally constructed washing ghats, the court said.

The court gave this order while hearing the petition filed by the sarpanch of the village Govind Dobariya. During the hearing, the court also examined the report of the experts committee set up to find out whether the dyeing and colouring units were indeed polluting the water bodies, including 10 rivers in the area. In its report, the experts committee had confirmed pollution in the water bodies.

Dipak Sindhi, counsel for the petitioner, told DNA said that as per data provided by the GPCB there, are nearly 2,000 colouring units in the area. After examining the report of the GPCB denying allegations of pollution, the court had constituted an experts committee to go into the matter.

In its interim report, the committee has stated that water bodies in the area are polluted. The streams and rivers were also being contaminated by untreated effluents from the washing ghats, the committee has said.