Comply with pollution control norms or face music, Punjab dairy units told
Punjab Pollution Control Board’s public notice said failure to get clearance under Air and Water Acts will invite strict action under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and environmental compensation would also be levied
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Thursday issued a public notice asking the dairy farm and gaushala proprietors in the state to obtain consent to establish and operate the farms under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
Failure to comply will invite strict action under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and environmental compensation would also be levied, the notice said.
PPCB member secretary Krunesh Garg said the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in January made it mandatory for proprietors of dairy farms/gaushalas to obtain consent under the provision of these acts. “The proprietors had not been coming forward for obtaining consent following which the board issued the public notice,” said Garg, adding that to apply for the consent, one can log on to PPCB’s portal pbocmms.nic.in.
‘NOT AWARE’
As per the information, there are around 1,100 dairy units in Haibowal and Tajpur Road complexes and surrounding areas in Ludhiana. Many scattered units are also situated in the city. PPCB and the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) had been tightening the noose around the dairy owners for dumping dairy waste into the Buddha Nullah, the seasonal stream which runs through the Malwa region of Punjab and, after passing through Ludhiana, drains into the Sutlej river.
One of the dairy owners in Haibowal dairy complex, requesting anonymity, said, “We are not aware of any kind of consent to be obtained from the board which is why we never applied for it. Following MC and PPCB directions, the dairy owners have already stopped dumping waste into the nullah.”