Chemical tanker caught dumping hazardous waste into Musi River

Hyderabad: A chemical tanker belonging to a pharmaceutical company was caught dumping hazardous waste into the Musi River through a specially designed pipeline, near Bapu Ghat in Langer Houz. The tanker was given the distinctive label ‘Hydrochloric Acid’.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday. When residents noticed the tanker, they rushed to the spot and found the driver discharging chemical wastewater through a manhole that led directly to the river.

They stopped the tanker, the driver and the helper and called the police, who took them into custody.

House Officer K. Kastro of Rajendranagar police station said Deccan Chronicle that the driver and the cleaner, Devdas and Venkatesh, had been fined.

A senior police officer said, “Venkatesh is a truck driver of Sreenivasa Labs, a pharmaceutical company from Pashamylaram. The company asked Venkatesh to take the tanker filled with chemical waste to Raghavendra Chemicals in Vikarabad.”

“Instead, Venkatesh took the tanker to Bapu Ghat and dumped the chemicals. He had leased the land and dug the pipeline himself. We are still investigating whether Sreenivasa Labs had any role in the dumping,” the officer said, adding that they had also seized an earth-mover that was used to remove the debris from the site.

Telangana Pollution Control Board (TGPCB), charged with overseeing the processing of chemical waste from industries, did not respond to any attempt by Deccan Chronicle to contact them.