Residents of Jaspalon village in Khanna staged a protest outside a factory on Tuesday, alleging that the unit was discharging chemically contaminated water into the ground and affecting groundwater quality.
Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) officials reached the spot and collected water samples for testing.
The protesters, led by Lovepreet Singh and Kuldeep Singh, alleged that the issue had persisted despite an earlier protest on September 17.
They said the factory management had assured them at the time that there would be no recurrence of the discharge, but claimed the problem continued.
The villagers further claimed that the total dissolved solids (TDS) level in the village’s water had crossed 800 and alleged that residents were facing health-related problems because of deteriorating water quality.
They said they had submitted several complaints to the PPCB but were dissatisfied with the action taken so far.
As the protest intensified, a PPCB sub-divisional officer and a junior engineer reached the spot and collected samples of the water being discharged from the factory.
The samples will be tested to ascertain whether they contain pollutants.
{{/usCountry}}The samples will be tested to ascertain whether they contain pollutants.
{{/usCountry}}The protesters also blocked the road, following which local police reached the spot.
The protesters and factory representatives were subsequently taken to the Kota police post to resolve the dispute.
Lovepreet Singh said the villagers wanted an impartial probe into the alleged discharge and demanded that any practice of releasing chemically contaminated water into the ground be stopped.
He warned that if the administration failed to act, the villagers would launch an indefinite protest outside the factory and block the National Highway.
Factory representatives and PPCB officials were contacted for their response to the allegations but declined to comment.