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Home » Environmental Health

Ganges Clean-up Forces Indian Leather Hub To Close

by Tanya on March 06, 2010 at 11:15 AM Environmental Health

Tanneries on the banks of the Ganges in northern India are now closing after decades of dumping effluents in the country's holiest river.

For environmentalists, it's a victory over filthy companies with no regard for nature and a rare example of pollution legislation being enforced.

Ganges Clean-up Forces Indian Leather Hub To Close

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They say the closures point to a willingness to tackle serial polluters even at the expense of jobs.

But the mostly Muslim workers and tannery owners in the city of Kanpur, home to more than 400 of the estimated 2,100 tanneries in the country, smell a religion-tinged vendetta against them and a political conspiracy.

"Since we are Muslim, there is more pressure from the government for us to control pollution," said Hafizur Rahman, president of the Small Tanners Association in Kanpur.

"There are many industries in Kanpur, and some of them use harsher chemicals than ours. We have taken steps to treat effluent. Why are we constantly being singled out?"

The issue is linked to the religious significance of the Ganges, Rahman added, referring to India's majority-Hindu population who believe water from the river to be sacred.

Muslims have traditionally dominated India's leather sector because of their willingness to work with cow carcasses -- considered taboo by Hindus.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Leather Industries Association, 65 tanneries have closed in the last two years, with 19 more ordered to shut.

The Allahabad High Court in 2008 ordered all industries accused of discharging effluent directly into the Ganges -- including tanneries -- to establish special treatment plants, move elsewhere, or risk being sealed.

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