Hyderabad: A problem worse than plastic could be plaguing Hyderabad. Last year, the Imagix Pyrolysis plant at Pashamailaram industrial estate in Sangareddy was sealed. Used tyres were being burnt here to extract oil.
On examination, the TSPCB had found particulate pollution at the chimney was 129 milligrams per metre cube as against the standard 115.
In 2017, eight tyre pyrolysis oil industries in Sangareddy were shut down after carbon dust from the plants was found to be affecting people in residential areas, as well as crops.
PCB public relations officer Praneeth Kumar said, “There is no ban at present, but the state is looking to shut most of them down due to any possible risk to the environment and health hazards.”
Siva Reddy, joint chief engineer for Andhra Pradesh State Pollution Control Board, confirmed: “There are several pyrolysis plants in Telangana and one at Patancheru. But I cannot confirm if they are in operation.”
He said the Central Pollution Control Board has guidelines to minimise any risk to health and environment “but there is always a concern whether the plants follow them.”
Sagar Dhara, writer and activist, and former consultant to the United Nations Environment Programme, says, “If the tyres are completely burnt in a contained environment with the fumes taken care of, then it is okay. But that is a big if, as norms are hardly ever followed. I have seen regulations being flouted even in very large industries.”
Whether Hyderabad should continue to import scrap tyres remains a point of discussion in the light of a Greenpeace India report published last month which has painted a bleak picture of air pollution in the city. It said Hyderabad is a city “where air pollution levels exceed national standards”.
The report, titled Airpocalypse III, stated that even if it was optimistic and assumed that air pollution across India could be reduced by 30 per cent by 2024, “Hyderabad will be left with pollution levels exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.”
Scientist Dr Radhakrishanan P.V. at the Centre for Environment and Development in New Delhi said the method of burning is important. “The pollution is toxic only if it is burnt in the open. There should be no issue if the tyres are baked in pyrolysis plants.”
