Doom for mangoes in Uttaranchal

Chimneys have come up in violation of norms laid down by the Union Environment Ministry which clearly state that the distance between one chimney and another should not be less than 1,500 m. The smoke from these chimneys spreads over a radius of 4 sq km in the area and has choked the mango groves spread over 15 sq km.

‘‘I have no option but to cut down the mango trees and replace them with some other trees which show resistance to this kind of hazardous air pollution,’’ says Fazi-uz-Zaman, owner of 100 bighas of mango orchard near Landhaura.

Besides causing a sizeable loss in the crop yield, the smoke carrying high sulphur and nitrogen contents has played havoc with the mango crop. ‘‘The smoke leads to deformed and diseased fruit,’’ says Dr Sat Kumar Goyal, who owns a 300 bigha mango orchard. ‘‘I could only get a sum of Rs 3 lakh for my mango crop this season. An orchard of the same size in neighbouring Saharanpur district would have yielded Rs 25 lakh,’’ he laments.

Goyal was the first to person to raise his voice against the air pollution and its resulting ill effects on trees in the area in 1984, but his was a lone battle. He was able to pressure the kiln owners to raise the height of the chimneys from 65 m to 95 m. But over the years, kiln owners, enjoying political as well as bureaucratic patronage, have spread their business.

Manglore was known for its big dushehri mangoes but ‘‘the size has shrunk to two-three inches only,’’ says Devender Kumar Mittal, another orchard owner. Congress legislator from Landhaura, Kunwar Pratap Singh, along with Nizamauddin, BSP legislator from Manglore, had raised the issue in the Assembly in March. The government had then assured them that a panel would be formed to look into the matter within two months. ‘‘The panel has not yet been formed even after three months,’’ says Singh.

‘‘We are aware of the destruction caused by the brick kilns but the permission to start them is given by zila panchayats. We are even trying to amend laws to check the menace,’’ says Dr R.S. Toliya, chairman of the State Pollution Control Board.