Mumbai: Residents of Kharghar, Navi Mumbai have complained about dense smoke from Taloja factories enveloping the area for the past three days. Locals asserted that the industries inside the Taloja Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) were regularly emitting smoke during heavy rains which was leaving the atmosphere hazy.
Citizens staying in sector 35 of Kharghar said that though the Taloja site was around 3 kilometres away, they had been waking up to hazy mornings due to the smoke emitted from the industries.
“Since last month, the industries are emitting hazardous smoke almost every midnight, so when we wake up, we get a choking feeling in the morning. It is happening frequently during the monsoon. Even though they have stopped burning brick kiln, emission of other chemicals in the air is still on,” said Jyoti Nadkarni, a resident of sector 35, Kharghar.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) maintained that it had sent closure notices to industries that were not complying with pollution norms. “We have already sent show cause notices to several industries and five industries have already been shut due to non-compliance with pollution norms. In case of any latest violation, we will do a site visit to check for impermissible emissions in the air," said an official from the MPCB.
Meanwhile, citizens stated that despite the MPCB's notices, untreated effluents were being released into the water bodies that was leaving a foul stench in nearby areas.
“Even though MPCB has claimed that strict action is being taken on the polluting industries, not much has been done in the case of air pollution. The foul smell has plagued the areas for days, which indicates that chemicals are released without any treatment. Even during rainy days when the air is supposed to be clean, a layer of smoke is seen above the premises while the nearby areas turn hazy,” said Nareshchandra Singh, a resident of Kharghar.
