Activist for NGT’s intervention to check untreated effluents in Ganda Nullah

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 25

After the Beas incident, wherein fish in large numbers were found dead, a social activist has written to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to check the textile industrial units on the Batala road and Majitha bypass which “dump” their waste in the Ganda Nullah.

Advocate PC Sharma, social activist, said residents of the holy city in various localities on Batala Road and Verka bypass road were at the receiving end amid the discharge of poisonous chemical into the Ganda Nullah. “The textile processors, located at the backside of Escort Hospital, Pandori Waraich Road, in the area release harmful chemicals into the drain, posing a health hazard,” he said.

Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) officials are in a deep slumber as they are hand in glove with the industrialists, he alleged.

He said that no textile unit had installed effluent treatment plant (ETP).

Sharma has urged the NGT to collect samples from the Ganda Nullah and take action against the errants.

When contacted, Harpal Singh, Environmental Engineer, PPCB, said, “All of the industrial units have effluent treatment plants. No one can run the unit without PPCB’s permission. Industrialists have been releasing treated water into the drain. There are some blackmailers, who file such complaints. The government should make provision to punish blackmailers.”