Punjab CM announces closure of Zira liquor factory amid pollution protests

State government gives in to farmers and area residents after six-month agitation against groundwater pollution allegedly due to discharge untreated effluents at factory in Ferozepur district

Giving in to the six-month-long protest by farmers and area residents against groundwater pollution, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday announced the closure of the private distillery at Zira in Ferozepur district.

A team of experts at the factory after protesters, most of them farmers, alleged violation of environmental norms by the unit in Zira sub division of Ferozepur district. (HT file photo)

Making the announcement on Twitter, the chief minister wrote in Punjabi that no one would be allowed to pollute the environment of Punjab and so he was ordering the closure of the liquor factory at Zira.

He added that the decision had been taken after consulting legal experts.

Welcoming the decision, Harinder Singh Lakhowal, the general secretary of a faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said it was “better late than never”. Speaking on the delay in taking the decision, Lakhowal said that the farmers who raised the voice against pollution caused by the factory had to protest for months, facing the vagaries of the weather, action from the police and local administration.

The protest started on July 24 and completed 177 days on Tuesday.

On the insistence of the protesters, the state government had taken samples of subsoil water and soil to study the impact of pollution in the area.

The reports are expected next week.

The factory began operations in 2006.