Will govt set right Peenya mess?

Will govt set right Peenya mess?


The Times of India



Bangalore: The Peenya Industrial Estate, long been overshadowed by more recent compatriots Electronic City and Whitefield, has been crying in vain for government attention.
Home to over 4,000 small and medium industries, the estate is plagued with problems. It’s tough to believe that what is considered one of the largest industrial estates in Asia does not have an underground drainage system.
A drive through the 40 sqkm Peenya spread is an unpleasant experience — bumpy, non-tarred roads with no sign of a lamp-post, piles of garbage and the stench of waste. The estate, in existence for around 35 years and provides employment to over 3 lakh people —40% of who are women, is clearly in need of a full-fledged overhaul.
The Peenya Industries Association blames the government. “The logic is simple: this area is not a votebank, so it’s not a priority,” says its president P S Srikanta Dutta.
The association has also been rooting for township status in vain. The Karnataka Pollution Control Board blames the association for not being pro-active, while the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board says the funds are locked with the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. “Hopefully, with Greater Bangalore being the new face of the city, things should become simpler,” BWSSB (West) executive engineer Narayan says.
Hopefully! Karnataka Inc definitely deserves better.

WASTELAND


An industrial hub that lies in a shambles. The Peenya Industrial Estate lacks some basic facilities — roads, streetlights, proper sewage system, effluent treatment plant, solid waste management system and even power. Sujit John and Swati Anand manoeuvre their way through the busy lanes to give you a first-hand account of the ground reality
It’s said to be one of the biggest industrial estates in Asia. Some even say it’s the biggest. While that may or may not be entirely accurate, there’s no doubt at all that the problems it faces are pretty big.
If you walk down the many roads and bylanes of Peenya Industrial Estate, you cannot but feel it’s a rather shabby and badly maintained industrial estates. And some of the adjacent private industrial estates are worse.
In many places, there are no roads to speak of. And no signboards with helpful directions. We reached roads which are probably totally non-motorable if there was even a light spell of rain.
It’s a good thing we went during the day. For, we were told most streetlights do not work and thousands of women employed in those factories have to risk walking down the dark roads on their way back home.
Many company managers told us how embarrassed they are to bring foreign customers to their factories because of the shabby condition of the estate.
The worst is the Nelagadaranahalli Lake, near the Bata facility. Practically everybody we met in Peenya said we must visit it. When we went there, we understood why. Heaps of waste have been dumped into the lake and the strong chemical stench is difficult to ignore. It has become a dumping ground for the tonnes of solid waste generated by the industrial estate. Even building contractors in the city dump waste here.
Shantha A S of Ducom Instruments, which has a facility near the lake, told us that the company has given scarves to all its employees. The scarf is to cover their faces when they go past the lake — to escape the stench and mosquitoes.
The lake also reflects three of the estate’s biggest problems — the absence of a sewage system, a common effluent treatment plant and a solid waste management system. When the estate was being formed some 30 years ago, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board somehow never planned for these facilities. So, some factories simply dug pits to dispose sewage and hazardous wastes like cyanides and mercury. Thanks to this practice, today the soil is totally contaminated and ground water is not potable.
The Pollution Control Board now has a system of effluent collection, which requires factories to pay Rs 1.70 per litre of effluents to the collection contractors. But many prefer the less costly exercise of dumping it in pits.
For solid waste management, the government has provided no proper landfills, says P S Srikanta Dutta, president of the Peenya Industries Association. The result: Vast quantities of solid waste generated by the Estate is dumped in places like the Nelagadaranahalli Lake.
Sadly, the little that was good is also turning bad. Power, which was not a problem till some time ago, is now in short supply. “I didn’t have power for four hours today,” said Y M Merchant, director, Super Bright Steels, which was set up in Peenya 20 years ago.
“The electricity board always recognised Peenya as its biggest revenue contributor. So, it ensured good power supply. Earlier, if it had to switch off power, it would inform us. All that’s gone now. I’m contemplating installing a genset.”

VOICES


The roads are so bad that many are not even tarred. It’s difficult for any employee to bring a two-wheeler or car here. The lake outside our office has become a place for dumping waste and the stench is so bad that one can’t work. During the monsoon, it gets worse. The road is reduced to slush and waste floats everywhere. I haven’t seen a single authority do anything about this in years. A GARMENT EXPORTER (DID NOT WANT TO BE NAMED)
A road near my unit was asphalted three or four months ago, but soon somebody came and dug up the entire stretch to lay some pipes. The power situation used to be very good, but it’s gradually becoming bad. I’m thinking of buying a genset.
Y M Merchant | PROMOTER OF SUPER BRIGHT STEELS
The Jalahalli Cross (the main junction into Peenya) is absolutely chaotic. At least six accidents happen there every day. As for the money being collected by Peenya Industries Association for infrastructure upgradation, we are not confident it will be well spent. As for the allotment of land in the proposed Solur Industrial Estate, we fear that the big players will corner the best plots. The allotment of land should be through a lottery system. A COMPANY PROMOTER (DID NOT WANT TO BE NAMED)

OFFICIAL VERDICT

We are mainly a vigilance and enforcement committee and have filed many cases against industries which dump waste on the roadside or into lakes. We had suggested a common effluent treatment plant, but the bigger companies have their own plant and the small companies did not take the initiative seriously. This, despite a 25% investment, 25% subsidy, 50% soft loan model. If the industries want Peenya to be pollution-free, they have to take action.
H C Sharat Chandra
| CHAIRMAN, KARNATAKA STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
‘The Karnataka Small Scale Industries Corporation undertook the task of underground drainage initially but due to improper maintenance, the system is not functioning. The BMP had sanctioned Rs 12 lakh to us and we have laid out a system in Stage 1. We have sent a Rs 5.2-crore proposal to the BMP and will begin work when money is sanctioned. Narayan | BWSSB EXECUTIVE
ENGINEER, WESTERN DIVISION








‘Due to waste dumped just about anywhere, our entire office stinks. We lose out on a lot of good talent because of this. Most people who fit our bill visit this place once and don’t come back. Security is bad and there are no streetlights at all, which makes it difficult for women as well as men to stay after 6 pm to complete work. Shantha A S | HR OFFICER, DUCOM INSTRUMENTS