Andhra Pradesh – Industries are as important as people’s health – People’s concern over industrial pollution in the Visakhapatnam port area – Not temporary measures – a permanent solution should be found.
AP TDP chief – Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao – suggestion at a high-level review meeting organized by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board
Raja Pentapati- AP Bureau Chief
AMARAVATI July 10th Bharat Degital News
NATIONAL
(Five-Star Rated News Service by Google)
TDP state president and Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao on Friday urged industries operating in Visakhapatnam to consider environmental protection not just as a regulatory responsibility but as an integral part of industrial development.
The high-level review meeting organized by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board at the Collectorate was attended by Visakhapatnam MP M. Sri Bharat, MLAs P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, Palla Srinivasa Rao, District Collector Abhishek Kishore, senior officials of the Pollution Control Board, representatives of 18 major industries operating in the port city and its surrounding areas.
He said that a comprehensive focus has been given to the concerns of the people on industrial pollution in the port area. While Visakhapatnam is emerging as one of the leading industrial and maritime hubs in Andhra Pradesh, he opined that economic expansion should not be at the expense of public health or environmental sustainability.
Referring to the practice of covering coal stockpiles with tarpaulin sheets, he said that their effectiveness would diminish over time due to repeated removal and replacement. Instead, he proposed structural and permanent solutions.
Industries should develop extensive green belts proportional to their land area and construct protective boundary walls of at least 20 feet in height, thereby significantly reducing the spread of dust into residential areas.
He said that coal transport norms should be enforced more strictly, and that overloaded trucks should be allowed to ply only at the permitted load, as they continue to cause pollution and road accidents across the city, and should be covered with green tarpaulin sheets, he said.
Clean air and a healthy environment are equally essential for sustainable development of industries, he said.
Swacha Andhra Pradesh
