Locals oppose establishment of ethanol factory in Nirmal

A Hyderabad-based private firm is establishing the ethanol producing unit on the outskirts of Gundamapalli village costing Rs 100 crore

Nirmal: Locals are opposing the establishment of an ethanol factory at Gundampalli village in Diwalarpur mandal, citing it would pollute their farms and throw their life out of gear.

A Hyderabad-based private firm is establishing the ethanol producing unit on the outskirts of Gundamapalli village costing Rs 100 crore. It bought around 60 acres of land to set up the factory and secured permission from the Telangana State Pollution Control Board and other government bodies to set up the unit here. It has already commenced works on various structures of the factory.

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However, residents of Gundampalli have been relentlessly staging protests against setting up the factory for over six months. They had submitted representation to the then minister A Indrakaran Reddy requesting him to take steps to prevent the private firm from launching the factory.

The agitating farmers contended that the industrial effluents would not only leave an adverse impact on their health, but pollute their agriculture fields on which they had been depending for quite a long time.

“The industrial effluents will affect the health of residents in many ways, while polluting paddy and other fields. We will be diagnosed with respiratory diseases if we inhale gases released by the factory. Similarly, we will lose our source of income once the fields are damaged by the pollutants. We will be forced to migrate to towns in search of livelihood,” Venkanna, a farmer, expressed concern.

Notwithstanding the protests and objections of the farmers, the firm is learnt to be determined to go ahead with its move. It has said that it would manufacture the industrial chemical with zero-pollution and assured that it would procure both paddy and maize produce from the farmers by paying a minimum support price fixed by the government.

The firm also said industrial effluents discharged from the factory would be converted into organic fertilizers with the help of a special unit.

Tension as farmers protest turns violent

Mild tension prevailed for a while when farmers from Dilawarpur mandal centre and Gundampalli village damaged structures of the under-construction ethanol factory and a vehicle, on Wednesday.

Farmers from the two villages reached the factory site and raised their objection to establishment of the ethanol plant. They then vandalised the structures of the unit and a vehicle belonging to the firm. Police rushed to the spot after being informed by the management of the factory and resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the protesting crowd.

The police pacified the agitating farmers by assuring them to address their issue by holding consultations with the management of the factory.