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Ludhiana: 4 months on, Mangat farmer awaits water sample report
After much furore and a social media post in December, PPCB officials had collected a water sample from the tubewell of Kehar Singh
Over four months after a water sample from a tubewell was taken by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), a 50-year-old farmer from Mangat village has been waiting for the report.
After much furore and a social media post in December, PPCB officials had collected a water sample from the tubewell of Kehar Singh. The tubewell is installed near a dyeing factory and had started pumping contaminated water last year, according to Kehar Singh. He alleged despite petitioning the board and protesting outside the PPCB office, the report was not shared.
PPCB chief engineer Pardeep Gupta said the report had found high total dissolved solids (TDS) value and the department was conducting a study of the 3 km area around the tubewell.
Gupta said the report could not be made public and if anyone would approach the board, they could find out about the report. The villagers, however, allege that they could not know the findings of the report despite numerous attempts.
Singh said, “Earlier, I had a 200 ft deep bore but due to the contaminated water, I got it at 300 ft. Then I found the contamination had reached to that depth as well.” He added that he could not grow crops with that water.
Singh had also sent samples for testing at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), which found it unfit for use.
Dyeing factory owner Namit Jain dismissed the allegations of his unit affecting the groundwater in area and said that the unit was being regularly inspected by the pollution board.
Sarpanch Sukhdev Singh said they have tried to get the report from PPCB but did not get a response.
