The Hindu : Karnataka News : Tyres fuel puffed-rice units

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Friday, Mar 07, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Tyres fuel puffed-rice units

H.S. Narasimha Kumar

Efforts by Davangere district administration to stop the practice have gone in vain

DAVANGERE: “Mandakki bhattis” (units making puffed rice), which burn old automobile tyres as fuel, are creating environmental hazards in localities such as Azad Nagar and Basha Nagar here. Efforts by the district administration to stop them from using tyres have gone in vain. Thick smoke can be seen emanating from the units between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day. Trees and buildings in the areas have turned black. Most of the people residing in the areas are suffering from asthma and other respiratory problems.

The district administration, after obtaining a report from the District Pollution Control Board on the environmental hazards of the poisonous gases being released, had decided to put an end to the burning of tyres.

The administration had conducted raids on polluting units some time ago. The raids created a law and order problem in the areas. Workers and owners of some of the units attacked a police station and threw stones at police personnel. The police opened fire in the air to bring the situation under control.

Later, the district administration took the owners and workers of the units into confidence and decided to provide specially designed wood gasifiers to all the units at a subsidised cost.

It distributed gasifiers to 15 units making puffed rice and set up a special wood depot with the help of the Department of Forests. However, some units using the traditional oven did not shift to the wood gasifiers and continued to burn tyres and paddy husk.

The owners of the units say that they do not get the required heat from the gasifiers. They say that using tyres for fuel in traditional ovens is economical compared to wood gasifiers or electric ovens.

Though the district administration has prohibited the burning of tyres in the units, tyres are being procured from places such as Haveri and Sandur.

The authorities of the pollution control board had also seized tyres from the factories. However, they have failed to completely stop the supply and use of tyres.

Child labour

Many of these units also employ children. According to the recent findings of the UNICEF-Norada child labour elimination project, over 150 children below the age of 14 are working in these units.

The district administration has set up a school in the area where the units are situated to bring such children into the mainstream.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan, an entrepreneur from Mumbai, after a month-long study of the puffed rice units here, has designed an electric roasting machine. He demonstrated the machine recently. He claims that the machine produces as much heat as a traditional oven.

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