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330 tonnes of HCL acid has disappeared from Panoli’s Hikal Company in Ankleshwar. Hazardous chemicals have been disposed of in compliance with regulations. The reputation of hikal company has been affected and the Hikal company has been discredited in different cases. It is quite shocking that the GPCB officials are also silent on the whole incident.
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GPCB’s investigation found 330 tonnes of chemicals unaccounted for and hence GPCB sent a closure notice to the company’s Panoli-based unit. However, despite making such a big scam, the company authorities are silent in front of the media regarding the notice.
Earlier in Surat, 6 people lost their lives due to the company’s sin and in Rajkot too, Hikal Company released chemicals illegally. It is being discussed that GPCB officials are also fooling the company. This company is also committing the sin of releasing death chemicals into common drains.
The National Green Tribunal has already fined 17.5 crores, and the case about the release of chemicals in Surat is still going on, as company didnt made the required changes and addressed the issue.
More than 50 people got sick and 6 people died in Surat. As per the information received, it has been stated that the Hikal company buys the transporter for illegal disposal and the transporter is disposing at any place in the state.
And they were fooling GPCB officials because they didn’t have “permission to operate” (CTO) in 2020, so they were illegally getting rid of used HCL 25% by calling it a waste.
Hikal gives these dangerous chemicals to different transport companies, which are dumped in river streams in the middle of the night. This has been going on for several years, which is why their MD Sameer Hiremath (who is also the occupier) is hiding from the police and has taken transit bail, which has also run out. They spent over 10 crore on legal fees to different lawyers, but they can’t spend the same 10 crore to build an effluent treatment plant in all their factories.
GPCB only lets dangerous chemicals with a COD (chemical oxygen demand) of 500 out, but there is proof that Hikal has been illegally releasing CODs of 25,000 and above. It’s no wonder that camels and people are dying because of these dangerous chemicals.
Hikal, which is co-owned by Baba Kalyani and his brother-in-law (they each own 68.9%, and the rest is owned by the public), spends over 8 to 10 crore on court fees across India, but is reluctant to pay the families of the people who died in Surat.
On March 25, 2023, a tank of hazardous effluent with a COD of 25,000 (the limit for COD is 250) exploded in the Hikal factory in Panoli. The tank burst in less than two months of use because it hadn’t been properly tested, letting 6 lakh litres of dangerous chemicals out. The tank was made of materials that could only hold liquids with a PH of 0. To save money on making the tank, the whole inside was not coated with PVDF. No good planning or engineering was done. All 6 lakh litres of waste water from the Panoli plant of Hikal were dumped into normal drains, where only rain water is allowed to flow out.
This caused serious diseases in the whole city of Bharuch. The most important thing is that the chemicals in the tank had a COD of 25,000, while the limit is only 250. In 2019-20, the Panoli factory of Hikal also had a leak of 4,000ppm, for which the GPCB fined 30Lakhs and shut down the plant for a month. There are enough videos and signed incident reports from their officials to show this happened on March 26, 2023. There was also a fire at the Panoli factory on April 25, 2023, but no officials knew about it.
What did the company say to defend itself?
With this remark, the company has tried to explain what’s going on.
At Hikal, we take environmental compliance with the utmost seriousness, and we recognize the significance of adherence to regulations and maintaining ecological harmony. We wish to assure our stakeholders that we are taking immediate and appropriate measures to address the concerns raised by the regulatory authorities. Our team is actively engaged in working with GPCB to thoroughly understand the reasons behind the direction and to seek a resolution in the most efficient and transparent manner possible.
We firmly believe that the closure direction is subject to reconsideration, and we have expressed our stance on the matter to the relevant authorities. Our commitment to environmental responsibility remains unwavering. Hikal is deeply committed to upholding the principles of Responsible Care and sustainable business practices. As a Responsible Care Certified company, we aim to maintain our focus on long-term sustainability and conduct our operations with unwavering ethics. We understand the importance of transparency in our communications with our valued investors and stakeholders.
Our priority is to keep the interests of our shareholders protected and maintain the highest level of corporate governance. This communication is for your information and records. We request your kind support and understanding as we work diligently to resolve this issue and restore normalcy at the earliest.”
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