Post News Network
Rourkela, Sept 20: The owners of 19 hotels in Sundargarh district are yet to reply to the show-cause notices served on them for violating pollution control norms even after the stipulated time period of 21 days.
Several hotels in the Steel City and other parts of the district have tossed pollution control norms to winds causing environment and water pollution in their peripheral areas.
Taking serious note of the issue, the authorities of the regional office of the state pollution control board (SPCB) had issued show-cause notices to 23 hotels in the district.
Since their inception, these hotels are reportedly are releasing sewage into drains while pollution control norms mandate that the hotels should have their own sewerage treatment plants.
The hotels which were served show-cause notices included 19 in the city, three in Rajgangpur and one in Sundargarh. Among the hotels are Anurag Pvt Ltd, Hotel Solace, Solan, Chandralok, Hotel Shyam, Regency Inn, Central Park, Hotel Basera, Hotel Apsara, Hotel Maa Tarini Ashirbad, Tridev at Panposh, Hotel Apsara, Hotel MN at Gurudwar Road and Panth Nivas at Sector-5.
The notices had been served on the hotel owners towards the end of July. The SPCB authorities had asked the owners of the hotels to appear before the board in 21 days.
Saturday, the owners of four hotels appeared before the board. “Even though 21 days have passed, only four hotels owners have put forth their stand in the matter of pollution. The others have not appeared,” said assistant superintending engineer of the board Ramesh Kumar Ekka.
The hotels will be sealed at the instruction from the district collector if their owners do not come to the office and put forth their opinion, Ekka added.
The hotels are also causing noise pollution through high decibel DJ music, the engineer said.
According to reports, 38 hotels near Old Taxi Stand in the city had been sealed in the presence of a magistrate August 17 as they had been discharging sewage into drains.