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Effluents from the Oswal fertiliser factory located at Paradeep in Orissa will affect the endangered Olive Ridley turtles, which come to the Gahirmatha beach for nesting every winter, an official said on Wednesday.
The factory discharges into the Mahanadi river effluents like phosphor-gypsum, which contains radioactive radium-226; radon, a harmful gas and fluorine, which causes fluorosis and contaminates ground water, the Secretary of the Wild Life Society of Orissa, Biswajit Mohanty, told rediff.com
The waste also contains sulphuric acid and sulphur dust, a poisonous chemical that flies all around Paradeep town because of an open conveyor belt system.
According to reports from Rajnagar, Tantiapal, Satbhaya villages of Bhitarkanika, whenever the unit discharges its effluents into the Mahanadi, the water becomes discoloured and humans feel a burning sensation, he said.
Dead fish can be found as far away as Barunai and Satbhaya villages, both of which are inside the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.
Due to the pollution, the fragile mangrove vegetation and endangered estuarine crocodiles of the Mahanadi delta and Bhitarkanika are also threatened, he said.
"Excess pollution of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, the largest nesting ground of Olive Ridley turtles, will affect their food chain. If the pollution continues they may stop coming here for breeding and nesting," he said.
The mouth of the Mahanadi has been badly affected because fish are dying and a thick crust of phosphor-gypsum has settled on the riverbed near the mouth, he added.
The owners of the factory, which commenced production in January 2000, wield enormous political clout, he said, adding the effluents have become a health hazard for humans also.
The Port Trust had filed a first information report charging that the unit had caused health problems for its employees. Though the report was filed in 2000, the police is yet to take any action, he added.
The Wildlife Society of Orissa has urged the Centre to revoke the statutory powers delegated to the state pollution control board, as it has miserably failed to control polluting units in Orissa.
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