Guntur: Pharma park hit by stir

GUNTUR: The residents of Adavuladeevi and Nizampatnam mandals are vociferously opposing the Dindi Chemical and Pharmaceutical  Park, on grounds that it would damage the aquaculture and farming sectors. Referring to the prolonged  protests against the proposed Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park in West Godavari district, they don’t want to turn Dindi into another Tundurru. The project was proposed 10 years ago but later put on the backburner. Now, the state government has decided to revive the project with Rs 2,700 crore investments from 200 companies. The locals met Repalle legislators asking them to stop the project since it will cause severe damage to the environment and to their livelihoods.

As much as 1,670 acres of land is required for the park in the Adavuladeevi and Nizampatnam mandals and according to sources the AP Cabinet will soon give clearance for land acquisition. The locals of Dindi and adjacent villages are claiming officials are keeping the pharma proposals secret. Local leaders, K. Srinivas Rao, N. Subbaiah and others claimed that 4 lakh people who were earning a livelihood through aquaculture and fishing would be affected. They said the pharma units were not acceptable. They would pollute water and damage public health. They alleged that waste generated by phrarma industries would be released into the Bay of Bengal water, infecting the fish species and further affecting livelihood.  They claimed that already the government was getting huge revenue through aqua and fish exports from only one harbour of Guntur district, Nizampatnam, but the exports would drop in the future because of pharma companies.

They said that already they have submitted memoranda to the officials and Repalle MLA A. Satyaprasad and demanded that the government not spoil the sea coast. Researchers K.D.  Prasad and P.C. Babu said many pharmaceutical industries generate toxic effluents. They said that waste water generated from these industries possess solids, biodegradable and non-degradable organic compounds etc. They warned about long term exposure of lower concentration of complex pharmaceutical mixtures on stream water may result in acute damage, behavioural changes, accumulation in tissues, reproductive damage and inhibition of cell proliferation. Several studies have demonstrated that fish exposed to waste water effluents can exhibit reproductive abnormalities.