Tanker filled with effluents found on premises of Vishivkarma Bikes
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has impounded a tanker filled with effluents, allegedly meant to be dumped in the open, during a raid on a factory owned by Charanjit Singh Vishivkarma, secretary of the Ludhiana Effluent Treatment Society (LETS) and president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturer’s Association (UCPMA).
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has impounded a tanker filled with effluents, allegedly meant to be dumped in the open, during a raid on a factory owned by Charanjit Singh Vishivkarma, secretary of the Ludhiana Effluent Treatment Society (LETS) and president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturer’s Association (UCPMA).
The PPCB team spotted the tanker when it raided the premises of Vishivkarma Bikes at the Focal Point on Wednesday night. The board has recommended an FIR against the owner under the Water (prevention and control of pollution) Act, 1974.
The LETS, which has various industrialists as its members, manages the city’s only common effluent treatment plant (CETP) at the Focal Point. Effluent of nearly 1,000 industrial units in Ludhiana are treated at the CETP.
The PPCB had formed different teams to check any kinds of environmental violations at the electroplating and dyeing units in the city. The inspection teams were also sent to the cycle parts factories where the unit of Vishivkarma Bikes was found violating the law.
Gulshan Rai, chief environmental engineer, PPCB, said the drives were been carried out at dyeing and electroplating units for the past two days. “A total of 70 units have been found violating the law during inspections carried out to know the method of disposing of the effluents,” Rai said.
The PPCB has recommended registration of FIRs against all 70 units for causing damage to the environment. Sources revealed that most of the industries were guilty of throwing effluents in open, including the highly polluted Buddha Nullah, after the midnight.
When contacted, Vishivkarma said the PPCB team raided the factory premises at 2.30am on Thursday.
“The recovered effluent was supposed to be treated. The PPCB is just taking revenge from industrialists for no reason. They are continuously harassing us,” Vishivkarma claimed.
Meanwhile sources at PPCB said these violating units were just the tip of the iceberg and future inspections would expose more violators.
Dalip Bedi, SHO, Focal Point police station, confirmed that the tanker had been impounded, adding that further action would be taken soon.
