PFAS Concerns at Ratnagiri Chemical Plant

Pune, Dec 24 (PTI) NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has claimed that the machinery of a chemical plant recently set up in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district was procured from a controversial Italian firm linked to health hazards caused by PFAS chemicals, and it is now emitting the same chemicals.

State industries minister Uday Samant, however, said the chemicals in question are not being produced at the plant set up by Lakshmi Organic Chemicals in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area at Lote Parashuram, 225 km south of Mumbai.

In a post on X, Pawar claimed that PFAS chemicals released by an Italy-based company, Miteni, had contaminated a reservoir, affecting over three lakh people in Vicenza area.



“The citizens there protested and forced the shutdown of the company. The same machinery from that shut-down company was purchased by Lakshmi Organic and installed in Ratnagiri MIDC. Harmful PFAS are being emitted from this plant,” Pawar alleged.




He questioned why permission was granted to such a hazardous industry, especially when India does not have specific laws regulating PFAS chemicals.



PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of synthetic chemicals widely used in industrial processes and are known for their persistence in the environment and potential links to cancer and other health disorders.

Speaking to a news channel, industries minister Samant, who is also the guardian minister of the coastal district, said he would not allow any hazardous project to come up in the Konkan region.

He sought information from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) after reading media reports, and was informed that the contentious chemical has not be manufactured at the plant so far, the Shiv Sena leader said.

"We are verifying whether the machinery procured from an Italy-based firm had necessary clearances from the MPCB," Samant added.

The MPCB had issued a notice to the company following media reports, he said.