The state government is coming under increasing pressure to allow cold storage facilities in the prohibited areas surrounding the water bodies of Osmansagar and Himayathsagar.
The investors in the lucrative business have set their eyes on areas near Shamshabad due to its proximity to the international airport.
Lobbying is on to get the authorities to permit the cold storage units and ignore the GO 111, which restricts concretisation in the catchment areas of the water bodies.
Inquiries by this newspaper revealed that state minister Basavaraju Saraiah had recently written to the industries department to accord sanction to R.K. Cold Storage Pvt Ltd in Shamshabad village.
Sources said that the industries department in turn wrote to the municipal administration department. The municipal administration depa-rtment in turn referred the matter to the Pollution Control Board.
“The promoters argue that cold storage is a green industry and can be permitted near the water bodies,” sources said, adding that the minister too endorsed the view. The PCB, however, denied permission stating that cold storage also comes under the prohibited activity.
“The argument of green industry does not hold good as chemicals will be used to preserve the material and they, once let out, will pollute the water bodies,” a senior official said.
Sources said pressure is also building up on the HMDA to allow warehousing facilities in the ORR growth corridor.
In the master plan, the HMDA had said a strict “no” to warehousing on the one-kilometre stretch on either side of the ORR.