MPCB issues closure notices to 17 factories in Kurla
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has issued closure notices to 17 laundries and foundries on Khairani road in Mumbai for violating environmental rules. Complaints from residents prompted the action. The board has also directed four companies in the same area to control pollution.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) Tuesday issued closure notices to 17 laundries and foundries on Khairani road, Kurla for violating environmental rules despite repeated warnings. Action against the 17 establishments was based on complaints from residents, said an MPCB official. He also stated that four companies from the same area had been directed to control pollution.
The Swachh Chandivali Association and Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association have been complaining about pollution from industrial units on Khairani road for the past five years. Inhabitants of the Nahar residency complex also said that pollution had caused health problems for children and senior citizens in the area.
On January 3, HT reported that illegal units were contributing in a major way to pollution and making life hell for Chandivali residents. Since 2017, residents of the township that has over 5,000 houses have written multiple letters to various authorities, urging them to shut down the heavily polluting illegal units.
The MPCB has taken a slew of steps to mitigate air pollution in the past two weeks. It directed Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Tata Power Co Ltd to reduce production by 50%, issued strict guidelines to Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited in Chembur and closed two ready mix concrete plants in the city. A closure notice was also sent to CEAT Tyres factory at Bhandup.