Irate industrialists to set up effluent treatment plant

Shivan Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 14

Furious over regular “harassment” by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in the name of surprise checkings and getting water samples tested, the Dyeing Associations on both Tajpur Road and Rahon Road have come together to jointly construct a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) at Tajpur Road. Today, 125 dyeing units got together and laid the foundation stone of CETP.

The associations have taken 10 acres of land on lease for 33 years. The land belongs to Tajpur Road Jail. Talking to The Tribune, Boby Jindal of association said it was high time and the dyeing industry was angry over daily “harassment” by the PPCB and departments concerned.

“Our wards are not ready to join us because they see tremendous pressure on us. On daily basis, samples are being taken by the department, which are failed and we are being penalised heavily. We have decided to come up with the plant. We hope that the Central Government will provide us a subsidy of Rs15 crore as we won a case in the National Green Tribunal and the Ministry for Forest and Environment has been instructed to pay the amount. Rs7.5 crore will be given by the state government. Industrialists have collected Rs5.5 crore which have been given to the Noida based company in advance,”

said Jindal.

It is pertinent to mention the PPCB has been acting tough against dyeing units as they were allegedly discharging untreated water into the ground. As a result, pollution levels reached to the maximum.

Due to strict measures adopted by authorities concerned, dyeing industry has hurriedly decided to come up with their own CETP.

Triveni Engineering Limited Company, a Noida-based firm has been asked to construct CETP. The total cost of the project would be around Rs60 crore and it would take around two years to construct CETP.