Social activists, environmentalists want Agra to be saved from petha pollution

Social activists and environmentalists at a meeting on Sunday demanded immediate shifting of petha (a local sweet made of gourd) units from the heart of Agra in Uttar Pradesh to the new site called Petha Nagri in Kalindi Vihar.

The activists urged the Agra Development Authority to expedite the shift of the units to prevent pollution in Agra.

Devashish Bhattacharya, a doctor, said hundreds of petha-making units were causing air and water pollution, posing a hazard to patients in the nearby S.N. Medical College Hospital, the Lady Loyal Hospital for Women, and the maternity wards and nursing homes in the vicinity.

Although the principal secretary for environment and forests department of the Uttar Pradesh government earlier directed Divisional Commissioner Pradip Bhatnagar to coordinate the shift of the petha-making units and oversee pollution issues, "pressure groups" have been delaying the implementation of that direction.

Naresh Parat, vice-president of the Agra RTI Forum, said that 90 people were allotted plots in Petha Nagri. However, not a single unit has shifted there.

The divisional commissioner has ordered all petha units to stop using coal and switch to commercial LPG. "This order was issued more than a week ago, but has not been implemented," activist Sandeep Sharma said.

Colonel (retd) Sunil Chopra explained: "The Supreme Court, in 1996, disposing of the M.C. Mehta PIL in the Taj pollution case, had ordered total ban on the use of coal in the Taj Trapezium Zone... government functionaries will have to explain how they permitted these petha units to continue using coal. The units are also discharging contaminated water... The UP pollution control board should book them."

Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society vice president Shravan Kumar Singh said air and water pollution levels in the city have reached alarming levels.

The meeting of activists decided that contempt of court proceedings should be initiated against the office bearers of the Taj Trapezium Zone Authority. Efforts would also be made to mobilise public opinion on the matter of pollution in Agra.

"The city of the Taj Mahal cannot be allowed to go to the dogs... there is now a foul odour that is identified as typically Agra's. The Yamuna has been reduced to a sewer, and these petha units in the city foul the air," said Surendra Sharma, senior tourism industry leader.