OSPCB slaps closure notice on Omfed plant

Bhubaneswar: After issuing a series of warnings over the last one and half years, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has slapped a closure notice on the Chandrasekharpur plant of the state government-run Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (Omfed).

The SPCB has served the closure notice on Omfed for allegedly polluting the water of Kuakhia river.

Earlier in February, the OSPCB has issued a show-cause notice to milk-producing firm for allegedly polluting the water body.

The Omfed which is currently producing 2.5 lakh litres of milk using 400 kilolitres of water every day releases its untreated water into Kuakhia river via Budhanala contaminating the nearby water sources.

Hadibandhu Panigrahi, Regional officer, OSPCB, Bhubaneswar said, "The waste water released by Omfed is polluting the Kuakhia river. We have inspected the plant several times and found they are not following the pollution control norms.”

“We have served a closure notice asking them to halt production at the Chandrasekharpur plant until they set up a new plant,” Panigrahi added.