Dismissing allegations by the BJP leader and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal that a closure notice issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for a sugar factory operated by Siddhasiri Souharda Sahakari Niyamit (SSSN), run by a co-operative bank of which he is president, Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre said that there was no political motivation and the board was simply following the laws of the land.
Speaking to the media at Kalaburagi here on Saturday, Mr. Khandre also revealed that the Union government had imposed a fine of ₹1.5 crore on the sugar factory for non-compliance of environment norms and the factory had paid it.
Fallout of meeting
“In a meeting of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) a week ago, I had directed officials to take stringent action against all factories that violate environment norms. When I gave this direction, I did not even know that Mr. Yatnal’s sugar factory was one among the violators. Subsequently, the KSPCB has issued notices to many. Mr. Yatnal’s factory operating at Chincholi taluk in Kalaburagi district is one among them. The law will take its course,” Mr. Khandre said.
In his post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Yatnal had said that closing his factory “due to political pressure” would not achieve anything and he was determined to reopen the factory by taking legal recourse.
“The Union government, one-and-a-half years ago, imposed a fine of ₹1.5 crore on the same factory for non-compliance of environment norms and Mr. Yatnal had paid the fine. Was the move of the Centre led by his own party also politically motivated? Even after paying the penalty, he did not get the necessary permissions from the competitive authorities to run the factory,” said Mr. Khandre.
Mr. Khandre further said that the factory in question had purchased large quantum of sugar cane from the farmers and crushed it to produce sugar and ethanol without obtaining necessary permissions from the competitive authorities.
To a question, Mr. Khandre categorically asserted that a criminal case would be filed against all those factories that would continue to operate ignoring the closure notice.
Closure ordered
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner (Sedam) Ashappa Pujari visited the factory and directed the factory authorities to close the factory with immediate effect.
Mr. Pujari met the factory officials and took details of the cane procured from the farmers and crushed it to produce sugar and ethanol. He verified the documents to find various alleged non-compliances.
