Punjab pollution body marks inquiry against Xen, SDO on Ludhiana villagers’ complaint

Following a complaint by Gaunspur villagers, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has marked an inquiry against executive engineer (Xen) Paramjit Singh and sub-divisional officer (SDO) Amandeep Singh to PPCB chairman SS Marwaha. Babu Ram, member secretary, PPCB, said the department had sent a letter to the chairman asking him to initiate an inquiry against both the officials.

Published on: Sep 16, 2019, 23:51:17 IST

Hindustan Times, Ludhiana | By HT Correspondent, Ludhiana

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Following a complaint by Gaunspur villagers, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has marked an inquiry against executive engineer (Xen) Paramjit Singh and sub-divisional officer (SDO) Amandeep Singh to PPCB chairman SS Marwaha.

Babu Ram, member secretary, PPCB, said the department had sent a letter to the chairman asking him to initiate an inquiry against both the officials. “We will decide our next course of action after the inquiry,” said Babu Ram.

In a complaint to the board, villagers of Gaunspur said, “On September 9, two days ahead of the surprise inspection by teh monitoring committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), officials of the department, identified as Xen Paramjit Singh and sub-divisional officer (SDO) Amandeep Singh, visited as many as 10 factories in the area and informed their owners of the possible surprise inspection.”

The villagers added, “With prior information given by the officials, factories succeeded in covering up several discrepancies.” The villagers demanded a disciplinary action against the officials.

The monitoring committee of the NGT, led by chairman justice Pritam Pal Singh (retd) and environmentalist Sant Balbir Seechewal and accompanied by PPCB officials had conducted a surprise check at five paper mills, situated in Gaunspur village on September 11.

Even during the visit, members of the committee suspected that information about inspection was leaked as two of the total five paper mills checked during the inspection were found closed.

Samples were collected from the treatment plants of remaining paper mills and the Buddha Nullah in the village.

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