Dumping of untreated waste by dyeing units goes unabated in Ludhiana

After he saw untreated waste at Shingar Cinema disposal point, former BJP councillor Inder Aggarwal even submitted a complaint with the MC.

Despite National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) orders and claims made by the municipal corporation (MC) and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PCBB) regarding stricter norms, the dumping of untreated waste in the MC sewer lines by dyeing units continues to pollute the Buddha nullah.

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After he saw untreated waste at Shingar Cinema disposal point, former BJP councillor Inder Aggarwal even submitted a complaint with the MC.

Former councillor, who is the husband of area councillor Manju Aggarwal, said, “The authorities are not paying heed to the problem. Three days have passed since I filed the complaint, but no concrete steps have been taken to stop the illegal practice.”

Aggarwal also questioned why the MC did not snap the sewer connections of such units.

An MC official, requesting anonymity, said that untreated waste being dumped by scattered units had always remained a major concern and the owners of those units had not even applied for connections of common effluent treatment plants (CETP) being established for the dyeing industry situated on Tajpur road and Focal point area.

Earlier, MLA Sanjay Talwar had also raised the issue in MC General House and a resolution that the MC would snap the sewer connections of dyeing units if they fail to come up with CETPs by March 2020 was also passed.

But the deadline to establish the CETPs was extended till December due to the lockdown and delays by the Union and state governments to release the subsidy.

MC superintending engineer Rajinder Singh said, “PPCB has to take action in the matter and we are writing a letter to them for conducting an inspection at the point.”

PPCB chairman Gulshan Rai said, “We have not yet received any complaint in this regard, but I will direct the department officials to inspect the point.”