The Indian state government has finally decided to allow all legal tanneries to carry out operations in the city of Kanpur, announcing that it would set up a separate 20 MLD treatment plant at Jajmau to ensure that tannery waste is not released directly into the Ganga.
In November of last year, over 200 tanneries situated on the banks of Ganga were shut by the UP government so that water pollution could be checked ahead of the 2019 Kumbh Mela festival.
The initial intention was for the ban to be lifted in March. However, the tanneries were not allowed to reopen, leaving many workers jobless. District magistrate, Kanpur, Vijay Vishwas Pant said a special purpose vehicle (SPV) was in place and the process of setting up a separate treatment plant was under way.
“UP Jal Nigam will transfer land for the treatment plant to the SPV which has been named as Jajmau tannery effluent treatment association,” said the DM who is also the chairman of the SPV.
The first meeting of SPV was held on Monday in which senior officers of the district administration and office-bearers of tanneries’ associations, including Firoz Alam and Hafizur Rehman, were present.
The company which will set up the treatment plant will give a presentation of the detailed project report (DPR) before the chairman and directors next week.
