Imitation jewellery units set to move
Vishal Sharma
New Delhi/ Agra. Following repeated notices of relocation served by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), over 300 imitation jewellery-manufacturing units of Agra have decided to move to the outskirts of the city.
A decision in this regard was taken in a meeting of the Imitation Jewellery Manufacturers Association held in Agra on Monday.
According to Association General Secretary Alok Arya, Agra was a major centre of imitation jewellery manufacture in Uttar Pradesh, with over 300 units linked with the manufacture of jewellery functioning inside the old city, within small, constricted areas.
Over the past couple of years, the Agra Development Authority and the UPPCB had been serving repeated notices to these units to either move out of the city or shut shop. As a result, it was decided that the artificial jewellery manufacturing units would move to the outskirts of the city to save their business.
Arya said for a long time, jewellery manufacturers had been independently searching for a suitable piece of land for establishing their unit outside the city and 122 jewellery units have now purchased 30 acres of land just outside the city.
He said that there were almost an equal number of units still waiting to strike a deal on the remaining 30 acres of land in the same village and once the rest of the units shifted to the spot, Agra shall be freed from the noxious smoke of the jewellery manufacturing units, while all kinds of imitation jewellery shall be available to the retailers and stockists from just one place.
According to Arya, the association had set a cut-off date of 15th June for allotting the jewellery units a place in the new jewellery enclave and any unit applying for a place in this duration shall be able to make a move to the new enclave as soon as the paperwork was completed.
Notably, the imitation jewellery manufacturing units are spread out in the entire Agra city, mostly concentrated in the denser areas, where the poisonous chemicals used in metal cleaning, polishing and electroplating create a serious problem of pollution of air and water sources.
According to the UPPCB sources, the jewellery manufacturers had been asked to move out of the city about two years back but they had been demanding that the authorities suggest a suitable piece of land for them to relocate.
Now, that they have found the land, the UPPCB too, shall begin building pressure on the units to quickly move out of the city after which, a ban of setting up any such units shall be imposed inside the city limits.
A decision in this regard was taken in a meeting of the Imitation Jewellery Manufacturers Association held in Agra on Monday.
According to Association General Secretary Alok Arya, Agra was a major centre of imitation jewellery manufacture in Uttar Pradesh, with over 300 units linked with the manufacture of jewellery functioning inside the old city, within small, constricted areas.
Over the past couple of years, the Agra Development Authority and the UPPCB had been serving repeated notices to these units to either move out of the city or shut shop. As a result, it was decided that the artificial jewellery manufacturing units would move to the outskirts of the city to save their business.
Arya said for a long time, jewellery manufacturers had been independently searching for a suitable piece of land for establishing their unit outside the city and 122 jewellery units have now purchased 30 acres of land just outside the city.
He said that there were almost an equal number of units still waiting to strike a deal on the remaining 30 acres of land in the same village and once the rest of the units shifted to the spot, Agra shall be freed from the noxious smoke of the jewellery manufacturing units, while all kinds of imitation jewellery shall be available to the retailers and stockists from just one place.
According to Arya, the association had set a cut-off date of 15th June for allotting the jewellery units a place in the new jewellery enclave and any unit applying for a place in this duration shall be able to make a move to the new enclave as soon as the paperwork was completed.
Notably, the imitation jewellery manufacturing units are spread out in the entire Agra city, mostly concentrated in the denser areas, where the poisonous chemicals used in metal cleaning, polishing and electroplating create a serious problem of pollution of air and water sources.
According to the UPPCB sources, the jewellery manufacturers had been asked to move out of the city about two years back but they had been demanding that the authorities suggest a suitable piece of land for them to relocate.
Now, that they have found the land, the UPPCB too, shall begin building pressure on the units to quickly move out of the city after which, a ban of setting up any such units shall be imposed inside the city limits.
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