1 week Ago
1 2 3 4 Ludhiana: A day after CM Bhagwant Mann announced a three phase programme for cleaning of Buddha Dariya through a private firm’s ozone cleaning technology, activists of “Kale Pani Da Morcha” asked the CM several questions on the feasibility of the programme. Why experiment? Activists asked why people of Punjab should wait for such experiments in an emergency situation. Pointing out that experiments conducted by previous governments had failed, they cited the example of the Green bridges project launched by former Union minister Jairam Ramesh.
According to them, the project wasted taxpayers’ money and time without yielding results. Basis of recommendation Activists asked which river of this scale and level of pollution had been cleaned by the Nebula Group, which had been roped in for the three-phase cleaning of Buddha Dariya. They asked which expert had recommended the solution to the govt and why the CM was dithering on closing illegal industrial units or stopping others from discharging waste into the water body.
Zero Liquid Discharge policy Activists asked why Punjab was not implementing the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) policy for red category industries even though former CM Jayalalitha had implemented it in Tamil Nadu in 2011-12. Govt’s primary duties The activists said treating industrial effluents was the responsibility of respective industries and it was up to them to decide which technology they wanted to use. They said that the government was assigned the job of governing well, protecting citizens and ensuring that the industry complied with regulations.
Silence on polluting units The activists questioned the government’s silence on polluting units which had missed deadlines in the past 2.5 years. They also asked why Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) for dyeing units were still operational despite failing to comply with their own decade old agreement and environment clearance condition of not throwing even treated water into Buddha Dariya.
The activists pointed out that this agreement was not made public till it was brought into the public domain by the central pollution control board when the matter went to the National Green Tribunal. They claimed that Punjab Pollution Control Board and state were defying the CPCB order of Aug 12 on stopping such water from being discharged into Buddha Dariya. Compensation to citizens Activists asked who would compensate people of Punjab for the toxic water they had to drink due to non-implementation of this agreement for the past over 10 years.
They said that the government was not allowing registration of an FIR against PPCB officials and SPVs of dyeing industry for violating the agreement despite a complaint being lodged in Tibba Police Station and with the police commissioner. The activists claimed that the state government and PPCB were violating basic human rights in collusion with the dyeing industry, CETPs and SPVs by letting them violate terms of their own environment clearance. Activists claimed that profiteering by violating environmental laws is an offence under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Environment clearance agreement Recently, CPCB submitted a report in the National Green Tribunal saying that as per the environment clearance granted to CETPs, treated water would not be discharged into the Buddha Nullah. However, it said that the three CETPs were discharging treated water into the Buddha Nullah and not complying with the condition stipulated in the environmental clearance issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Based on the observed non-compliance among CETPs discharging water into Buddha Nullah, CPCB, on August 12, directed Punjab Pollution Control Board to take action, including imposing environmental compensation against the violators.
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