PPCB to assess discharge of effluents by dyeing units

Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 18

Taking cognisance of effluents being released by dyeing industry units of New Focal Point, Mehta road, into an open drain, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has instituted a probe to verify it and explore possibility of setting up a common effluent treatment plant (CETP).

The PPCB regional office, Amritsar, will check the allotment of plots given by the PSIEC to all the dyeing units situated at New Focal Point. For this, a three-member team comprising Assistant Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, PPCB, Sub Divisional Engineer (SDE), PSIEC, and Sandeep Gupta, Assistant Scientific Officer of the PPCB, will visit the water polluting industrial units and check the capacity of the effluent treatment plant (ETP) and the actual discharge. They will testify whether or not the industry has the permission to discharge into PSIEC sewer or not.

The team will also collect samples from dyeing factories and send the same for analysis to Thapar Lab, Patiala, Punjab Biotechnology Incubator (PBTI), Mohali, and the PPCB lab. Then the team will submit the complete report within 15 days.

Subsequently, the PSIEC authorities will finalise the proposal of STP after going through the contents of the report.

The PSIEC authorities will design the STP for achieving the stringent standard of BOD less than 10 mg/1.

A meeting regarding installation of the CETP in New Focal Point will be taken by Senior Environmental Engineer, zonal office, with the dyeing industries of New Focal Point and PSIEC authorities within a fortnight.

The PSIEC authorities will explore the possibility of utilising treated domestic effluent in the parks situated in New Focal Point and will ensure no stagnation of waste water in open plots in Focal Point. Besides, it will also be ensured that waste water is not discharged into the drain adjoining Focal Point.

Amritsar Tribune, in its columns, has already highlighted the problem of stagnant effluents in Focal Point.

PPCB SDO Sukhdev Singh said the communiqué for commencing the enquiry had been received. He added that the probe would be initiated once the stubble burning period will be over.