Dutch Stahl, tanning chemicals giant, who has recently bought out Basf competitor, signed an agreement with Solidaridad charity organization, PUM volunteer association and a few Indian companies to clean up the river Ganges. The project, backed by The Sustainable Water Fund (FDW) programme, based on a partnership between public and private enterprises promoted by Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, pertains to factories located in the Kanpur district and it is going to last 5 years. It is bound to face several challenges, such as reduction of 40 per cent of waste water discharged in the river, by implementing new technologies and working processes in the tanning plants. Besides machinery and manufacturing, such partnership entails the foundation of Stahl’s Top Quality Centre, as well as corporate staff training and seminars on environmental education for local communities that reside down-river: the aim is to make them aware of the importance of water for irrigation and livestock farming. “We are fully aware of the issues that affect the Kanpur district, where around 400 tanneries every day discharge 50 million litres of waste water”, emphasizes Michael Costello from Stahl. Likewise we fully understand that “we can’t change the situation by ourselves, that’s why we joined forces, together with industrial partners and local authorities, to clean up (the intervention is already underway) such iconic and sacred river”.
Cleansing the Ganges, as Dutch Stahl join intervention to clean up the Sacred River
