VILLAGERS' INITIATIVE PPCB tells industrial
units to stop discharge into Sutlej
Following the
failure of the Himachal Pradesh gov- ernment to check the release of
toxic effluents from indus- tries in Gwalthai area into Punjab,
residents of Barmala village and members of social organisations have
raised a bundh in the Barmala Khud with JCB machines and other
equipment.
Parbhat Bhatti and Dr Sanjeev Gautam of Jagriti,
an NGO, said their pleas to curb the release of toxic effluents from
industries in HP had fall- en on deaf ears, forcing them to do the
needful themselves. Senior BJP leader and for- mer Nangal Municipal
Council president Rakesh Sharma, Ravinder Kumar, Shiv Kumar, and
Barmala sarpanch Amrik Singh were among those pres- ent on the
occasion.
Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) Chairman
Rajat Aggarwal and other officials visited Nangal on Friday and took
water samples from Barmala Khud, sewage treat- ment plants of Bhakra
Beas Management Board (BBMB) and the Municipal Council and effluent
outlet of the National Fertiliser Limited (NFL) plant.
The PPCB told industrial units, including NFL
and Punjab Alkalis and Chemicals Limited (PACL), to stop effluents
from flowing into the Sutlej by April 30. The BBMB has been direct- ed
to stop its sewage effluents from flowing into the river.
It is learnt that the PPCB has issued these
directions fol- lowing repeated incidents of fish mortality in the
Sutlej at Nangal, allegedly due to dis- charge of toxic effluents from
industrial units into the river.
PPCB environmental engi- neer Karunesh Garg said
the issue of release of effluents from industries in Himachal had been
taken up with the Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment,
during his visit to Chandigarh recently, and the latter had assured to
set up a coordination committee of the two states to look into the
matter.
