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Giaspura tragedy: PPCB, MC officials conduct door-to-door checks to sniff out gas leak cause
Chief environmental engineer, PPCB Ludhiana, Sandeep Bahl said that the inspection was conducted door-to-door and the units functioning in an unauthorised manner have been served notices
The officials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and municipal corporation on Wednesday conducted door-to-door checks in the vicinity of the area, where the gas leak claimed 11 lives, as part on the ongoing inquiry to unearth the cause of the Giaspura tragedy.
Sources said a number of small-scale units were found operating in the area from within houses in an unauthorised manner. The units-cum-residences are cramped, dingy and devoid of any ventilation, thus violating building bylaws.
Chief environmental engineer, PPCB Ludhiana, Sandeep Bahl said that the inspection was conducted door-to-door and the units functioning in an unauthorised manner have been served notices. Their waste disposal method is being analysed, he said.
“We are examining all industries operating in the area. A number of these are under suspicion and though we cannot comment right now as probe is on, strict action will be taken against those violating norms,” Bahl said.
SIT begins probe
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team formed by the Punjab Police to probe the Giaspura gas leak recorded statements of victims, government officials, and other stakeholders as it began its investigation on Wednesday into the incident.
The SIT headed by DCP investigation Harmeet Singh Hundal had summoned officials of government departments, including the municipal corporation, and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), who recorded their statements. The proceedings of the SIT started at 11 am on and continued till 6:30 pm.
The officials who were summoned included the joint commissioner and superintending engineer (Operations and Maintenance branch) of Zone C of the civic body and two superintending engineers from the PPCB. The SIT has also recorded the statements of the four victims who survived the incident.
DCP Hundal said, “As it is the first time such a case is being probed, the SIT is trying to gain knowledge about the ground situation and know the working of the government departments which are responsible for the tragedy.
He added that a private company, which has the contract to collect the industrial or chemical waste discharged by the electroplating units, has been also summoned. He said that PPCB and MC have been asked to provide the data regarding the complaints they have received on the violations and give records of the habitual offenders in the area.
He said that representatives of the industry will also be called for their versions as they are also the stakeholders in the case.
Another SIT member said that it will take around three days of meetings, sessions in which all the information relevant to the case will be collected.
The other members of SIT are additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, City 2) Suhail Qassim Mir, ADCP (city 4) Tushar Gupta, assistant commissioner of police (ACP, South) Vaibhav Sehgal and Inspector Inderjit Singh Boparai, SHO at police station Sahnewal.
As per the FIR registered by the police under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, the illegal dumping of chemical waste into the sewer is the reason behind the leak.
Eleven residents, including three children, were killed on Sunday after allegedly inhaling poisonous gas in the Giaspur area of Ludhiana. The area within a 250 metre radius has been cordoned off by the authorities.
On Tuesday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), initiating a suo motu action, had ordered ₹20 lakh compensation each for the kin of victims who died. The NGT had also formed an eight-member committee to probe the incident.
PPCB chief environmental engineer Bahl will appear before the SIT tomorrow along with other MC officials as well as experts as part of the police probe into the incident.
Police commissioner Mandeep Sidhu said they will be questioning the officials for any possible leads as the police’s investigation is based largely on PPCB’s action in the case.
NGT to visit next week
An eight-member fact-finding joint committee formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) will hold its first meeting next week. The committee is headed by chairman, Punjab State Pollution Control Board.
MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal said they are waiting for reports of samples collected from manholes from the site of the incident following which they will get a clear picture as to what acidic content or effluent was put in the sewer line which reacted with other gases and formed hydrogen sulphide in such a huge quantity that caused 11 sudden deaths.
