Punjab: Congress MLA, police clash over construction of bio-CNG plant

The protesters alleged that the administration plans to dump waste from Jalandhar and nearby areas for bio-management at the plant, which they claim will turn the entire area into a garbage dump.

Protesters, led by Congress MLA from Adampur Sukhwinder Singh Kotli, engaged in heated arguments with local police over the construction of a bio-CNG plant at the cooperative sugar mill in Jalandhar’s Bhogpur.

Congress MLA from Adampur Sukhwinder Singh Kotli engaged in heated arguments with local police over the construction of a bio-CNG plant at the cooperative sugar mill in Jalandhar’s Bhogpur on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

The protesters alleged that the administration plans to dump waste from Jalandhar and nearby areas for bio-management at the plant, which they claim will turn the entire area into a garbage dump. Kotli said that the government-run mill continued the construction of the bio-CNG plant despite strong resistance from locals over the past two years.

“The local administration has been supporting the mill in continuing this anti-people project, which is situated in a residential area. We held a meeting with the mill management on Tuesday and were assured that construction would be stopped with immediate effect,” he said. He further claimed that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the government and the mill management for the plant’s operations has already expired.

The district administration and mill authorities, however, have refuted claims that municipal waste will be processed at the facility. According to authorities, only presumed, a by-product of cane crushing, will be used as fuel to operate the plant.