The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has imposed a closure notice and a pollution penalty on Starmilk Products (P) Ltd, a Hooghly-based dairy industry, for creating enormous water pollution, nearly 40 times over the permissible limit. The decision was taken on basis of the findings of a state board enquiry in the unit, triggered by a public complaint forwarded by environment platform ‘Paribesh Academy’ of Chandannagar, Hooghly.
The closure will take effect from September 1 if the unit fails to bring down its discharge quality within the specified norms using a newly installed effluent treatment plant, as they committed to the state board. A pollution cost of Rs 3.5 lakh was also imposed on the unit for violating environmental norms, as found by the state board.
“ … The Technical committee is of the opinion that it is a fit case for issuing closure order against the industry,” reads the order issued by the chief engineer (operation and execution) of the state board on August 6, a copy of which is with The Plurals. However, the board deferred the execution until August 31, “as it (milk) is a perishable and essential commodity”. The board also allowed the extended period “to make the newly installed effluent treatment plant fully functional” and asked the unit to submit the compliance report by the end of August to avoid being closed down.
“We have already written back to the WBPCB on August 14, underlining that the penalty amount imposed is much lower compared to the damage the factory has already caused through unbridled and intentional pollution; and also demanded that the amount should be used to improve the quality of the local environment,” said Biswajit Mukherjee, president of Paribesh Academy.
The unit, which was called in a PCB hearing on July 14, claimed that a new ETP with a capacity of 100 kiloliters daily has been commissioned.
The pollution
According to the WBPCB report, Starmilk, a dairy unit with a raw milk processing capacity of 1500 kiloliters every month, was found to be the culprit for a range of violations.
The state board inspected the unit’s premises, located in Jangalpara, Hooghly, on May 20, 2026, following the complaint lodged that highlighted the process of discharging untreated wastewater into an outside drain, which flowed into a canal, and pollute the area.
The board’s findings concurred.
“ The unit was … discharging untreated effluent outside bypassing the ETP (effluent treatment plant)” the PCB found while enquiring the violation. The samples collected by the board show that the level of all pollutants were extremely high compared to permissible levels; for instance, TSS (total suspended solids) was recorded at 2680 milligrams against a limit of 150 milligrams, while BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) was found to be 3776 milligrams against a permissible benchmark of 100 milligrams. The inspection found that effluents were being discharged into the nearby Akambari Canal.
The unit was also found to operate beyond its permitted timeline, July 31, and had started producing beyond the permitted volume, which, according to the PCB, “has made the situation even worse”.
The complaint
On February 2, 2026, Mukherjee wrote to both the district magistrate of Hooghly and the WBPCB, pointing out that the “organization has received complaints from local people… that Star Milk Products Pvt. Ltd, situated at Vill & P.O- Jangalpara, P.S- Pursurah, Hooghly, PIN- 712 401… is discharging industrial waste by the side of the factory which leads to the water canal.” Copies of the photographs were enclosed with the complaint.
Mukherjee, a retired chief law officer of WBPCB, demanded actions against the unit alleging that the unit violated the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 by discharging waster in the water body, as well as the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The complaint was lodged based on a field enquiry by Subhrakanti Samanta of the nonprofit after it received several complaints from the region.