The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has come down heavily on the bulk drug units located in the districts of Bidar and Kalburgi (Gulbarga) by issuing closure orders for non compliance to the norms of effluents and solid waste management.  The units were hauled up for causing high air pollution, improper handling of effluents and ground water contamination.

The units are primarily small and medium enterprises. “We have ordered for closure of all the nine units.  Pharmaceutical sector which comes under the scrutiny of pollution control board covers formulations, Ayurveda and bulk drugs.  Over 95 per cent of formulation units are in Bengaluru and are found to be compliant and the same is the case with Ayurveda production plants. But it is the bulk drugs units particularly in Bidar and Kalburgi that have flouted all pollution control norms.  There are also units in Raichur and Mysore which have come under our scanner”, Dr. Vaman Acharya, chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board told Pharmabiz.

These units are small and medium enterprises which lacked proper systems for solid waste management, waste water recycling and solvent recovery system. The emission of effluents was found to mar the environment. The units could not justify the process and also failed to explain the reasons for non compliance. There was no other option but to issue closure orders. In the last few weeks, we have been approached by some of these units which are keen to invest and put in place the required systems. The review of these requests are on, he added.

Regulations specific to pharma sector include hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) which relate to air emissions, corrective clean-up of discarded residues, among others.

While the Board has observed that companies in Bengaluru are taking care of TSDFs, those in the northern districts of Karnataka have neither access to a Common Effluent Treatment Plants and cease to handle the solid waste management. The only option for the units in the northern districts of Karnataka is to transport the solid waste to Bengaluru. But high cost of logistics deter these small-medium sized units to incur such expenditure, pointed out Dr. Acharya.

In addition, wherever a serious soil damage occurred, the Board asked Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) along with the industry associations in Kalburgi and Bidar to provide these units with proper instructions on how to improve the soil conditions. The Board has insisted on the need to install Multiple Effect Evaporator systems, condense the effluents into salts and then dispose off into the TSDFs. Our team of highly qualified experts help identify and correct the pollution causing practices, said Dr. Acharya.