CB BureauIn an effort to prevent flowing contaminated water from tanneries to the river Ganga, Jairam Ramesh, union minister of state for environment and forests, formally launched lyophilization-based equipment at a common effluent treatment plant in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Lyophilization is a technique that allows saltless preservation of hides. The technique has been patented by the environment ministry’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for preservation of biodegradable material without salt. It is based on sublimation, whereby water content in the hide is sublimated to water vapour under vacuum condition to make it stable and easier to store at room temperature.
‘Around 2,500 metric tons of hides are processed in tanneries located along the Ganga basin at Jajmau, Unnao, and Banthar in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. These units consume about 1,500 metric tons of salt everyday, of which 90 per cent find their way into the river and the ground, leading to pollution and contamination. By applying lyophilization technology, salt-free hide preservation may be opted for which would drastically reduce effluent salinity,’ said Ramesh while introducing the green technology.
Tanneries are among the 17 categories of grossly polluting industrial sectors and the conventional preservation process of hides employing common salt generates high totally dissolved solids (TDS) during process, and is cause for concern. Because of the high TDS, performance of effluent treatment systems and effluent treatment plants is degenerated and becomes less effective.
Will not review directive for power plants
Virtually turning down the demand of the power ministry, Jairam Ramesh has ruled out review of its recent directive requiring all power projects to secure forest clearance before they begin work.
‘This is being done to avoid being presented with a fait accompli. Nobody should take environmental clearance for granted. The directive has been issued to avoid situations where damage is done even before the project formally takes off. This would help in proper execution of the project and help in its timely implementation by securing all clearances beforehand,’ Ramesh said.
‘I am in the know-how of the demand by the power ministry to forego this directive, but in the interest of environmental protection, I am unable to withdraw this directive,’ Ramesh asserted.
The power ministry had argued that such a directive would prove a big obstacle in achieving the targeted power-generation capacity addition programme. It has expressed fears that such an order would adversely impact the development of hydro and thermal power projects that are the mainstay of the programme to achieve capacity-addition targets.
