Dyeing units put on notice till Nov 6

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, October 25

The noose is tightening around the errant dyeing units in the city which continue to discharge toxic effluents into the main sewer lines either directly or through bypass connections that pollute the Buddha nullah water.

After pulling up the Municipal Corporation (MC) top brass for their alleged indifferent attitude towards pollution in the drain, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has now told the dyeing units to stop the discharge of the untreated/toxic effluents into the sewer lines and disconnect direct or bypass connections by November 6, else the units would

be sealed.

The ultimatum came to the dyeing units through a public notice issued by the PPCB authorities on the basis of the inspection of several dyeing units on the Tajpur road, Focal Point and those scattered in other areas where direct or bypass connections were found to the main sewer lines through which untreated toxic effluents were being discharged into the sewer lines. In some cases, the PPCB teams had found that effluent treatment plants installed in the units were lying non-operational to cut the cost.

A PPCB official indicated that the defiant dyeing units would have to face the music and the authorities were in no mood to tolerate the errant and irresponsible attitude of the units which wetre negating all efforts being made towards reducing the highly polluted level of Buddha Nullah.

Meanwhile, ruling party legislator from Ludhiana (East) Sanjay Talwar has been vocal against the discharge of the toxic waste by dyeing units into the main sewer lines which not only causes pollution in Buddha Nullah but also leads to the frequent choking and overflow of sewers in several localities around Tajpur Road dyeing cluster where the CETP (common effluent treatment plant) was in the process of being installed.

The PPCB officials reiterated that till the time CETPs become operational on the Tajpur road and Focal Point clusters, the onus remained on the dyeing units to treat toxic effluents. “Even the scattered dyeing units will have to adopt zero liquid discharge technology or will have to get connected with the CETPs to continue to operate beyond December 31,” said the officials.