Pollution is not only affecting the health of the people of Delhi-NCR, but also the garment factories and overall textile business. Various production activities were also on halt in the region for almost 2 weeks.
Noida and Gurgaon were the most affected in Delhi-NCR as these cities have more factories compared to Delhi, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. Thanks to the open dumping of garbage and unpaved roads, Udyog Vihar Industrial Area has once again been listed as a pollution hotspot by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The locality has hundreds of garment factories and few of the well-known buying houses of India.
Apart from the garment factories of this hub, SMEs of the region also struggled for a few days as the boiler was not allowed to operate due to high pollution. Many factories in this area are running their boilers on diesel as gas is not a viable option for them and authorities have denied operating boilers.
“Garment industry of the city was forced to close their boilers for almost 2 weeks, which resulted in production delay. Out of more than 1,600 garment factories of Gurgaon, around 90 per cent use boilers for steam. Some buyers gave us little extra time to complete the orders, while few have asked to send their goods through airship. All this has impacted overall business by 30 per cent in this particular period,” says Animesh Saxena, MD, Neetee Clothing, Gurgaon who is also associated with some trade organisation.
The industry has also given a representation to Bhure Lal, Chairman, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority insisting that they are using non-IBR steam generators but have not got any relief.
Lalit Thukral, President, Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC) tells, “Dyeing houses were almost closed for 14 days, so our raw material supply got affected and nobody in the administration understands that we have a commitment towards international clients.
Delay affected Noida’s apparel manufacturing heavily.”
As far as Udyog Vihar is concerned, there are more than 5 locations in various phases of this area having garbage. Traffic congestion is also there; vehicles get slow at toll near Udyog Vihar and create more emission. Besides, the Smart Grid project for improved electricity supply has started digging on the roads which is not completely done so far. All this leads to heavy pollution in the area.
Udyog Vihar, having hundreds of garment factories and buying houses, is the most polluted hotspot of Delhi-NCR.
Earlier, the area was under Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIDC) and it had good coordination with the industry, but now Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is managing the area while MCG is responsible for cleanliness. And despite request by the garment industry for the proper management of the area, things have not improved here.
“We don’t see any solution as all our efforts so far are in vain,” says Animesh.
