At a time when production is typically at its peak ahead of the festive season, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has ordered 36 jeans washing units in Ballari to cease operations for discharging untreated wastewater into public drains. Notices have been served to 63 units in total, heightening anxiety across a sector that employs more than 10,000 workers directly and indirectly.
Unit owners said the closures had intensified the distress faced by an already struggling industry and urged the State Government to intervene immediately. They have appealed for additional time to comply with environmental norms and requested temporary permission to resume operations in order to avoid significant financial losses.
According to one unit owner, Ballari hosts more than 500 readymade garment units producing over 50,000 pairs of jeans daily — a figure that typically doubles during the festival period. He noted that the industry once employed over 100,000 people but has been weakened in recent years by rising production costs, water shortages, power disruptions and labour constraints. Washing units, which are critical for finishing denim products, occupy a central place in the supply chain, and their closure could bring production to a halt during the busiest period of the year, he warned.
He added that the Mundargi Industrial Area, on the outskirts of Ballari, had 83 washing units before the pandemic. Successive crises have since reduced that number to 50, and with 36 now sealed, industry representatives fear the damage could become irreversible. The units rely heavily on borewell and tanker water, and despite repeated appeals, the government has not provided an appropriate site for effluent disposal or established common treatment facilities.
District Environmental Officer Dr Siddeshwara Babu confirmed that closure notices had been issued following directions from Deputy Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa, who inspected the Mundargi cluster in January and raised concerns about untreated wastewater being released into drains. Acting on the Upa Lokayukta’s instructions, the KSPCB ordered 36 units to halt operations.
With the peak business season approaching and thousands of workers suddenly left without employment, Ballari’s jeans industry is facing a critical moment. Unit owners fear that without swift government intervention — particularly through the creation of effluent treatment facilities and acceleration of the long-pending Apparel Park project — the once-thriving denim hub could face long-term decline, undermining Ballari’s reputation as India’s denim capital.
