UDHAMPUR: Taking serious note of the situation in industrial area around Udhampur city, Mustafa Kamal, Additional General Secretary National Conference on Wednesday said that government has flouted norms by allowing chemical and cement factories in the vicinity which in turn are devastating agriculture land as hazardous waste is being released without any treatment.
Kamal said this during an interaction with people of Udhampur, who met him during his visit to the city on the behest of Party President Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Conveying their apprehensions about the ramifications of the aforesaid issue, the locals apprised the senior NC leader about government’s move to permit pesticide and cement factories in which the dangerous chemical waste is being allowed to seep in the agriculture lands in the vicinity. They rued that despite taking up the matter with the District Administration nothing concrete has come to fore as the government seems to be adamant to allow such devastation in the District inspite of knowing everything about ill effects of this irrational decision. They said that the big question is that why government took this anti people decision of raising dangerous industry in and near the residential area.
Upon this, the senior NC leader Kamal said that looking into the whole gamut it seems that the government has not given permission for industry rather it has given license to industrialists to kill the people as nowhere in the world such hazardous industries are allowed near places where land is used for agriculture or people dwell nearby. He said that this is totally unacceptable and he will approach the concerned quarters in the administration to raise the issue and find some via-media to save the agricultural land and people from the harmful effects of the industry.
Kamal said at the first place, the government should not have allowed such a big blunder as people’s health is prime. He said there is also a need to probe what compelled the government to allow such dangerous industrial units near residential areas as under normal conditions no one in the government would have taken such a decision.

KR Desk