Untreated effluent at Focal Point a concern

Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 20

Untreated effluent, discharged from factories at the Focal Point (New), Mehta Road, is being used to irrigate fields.

Raman Gupta, an industrialist, claimed that it was a criminal negligence on the part of industrialists who released chemically laced effluent and the Punjab State Industrial Export Corporation (PSIEC), being the custodian of the Focal Point, had failed to treat the same.

He added that the wastewater managed to make way into the adjoining fields and gullible farmers were not aware of its toxicity. The PSIEC has failed to comply with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) norms as per which factory owners have to compulsorily install treatment plants on their premises, traders say.

The New Focal Point on Mehta Road falls under the well-planned industrial area but it lacks basic amenities, like disposal of sewage, for the past many years. The beautifully planned industrial area has become a victim of poor sewerage disposal.

Stagnant sewage emanates unbearable stench.

Moreover, the PSIEC is discharging effluent into an open drain in the area which has become highly polluted.

The same water flows into an open drain situated at the backside of Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research and adjacent fields, damaging and poisoning the irrigable land.

It was in 2015 that the PSIEC had announced to set up a sewage treatment plant (STP) in the industrial area. However, the announcement never materialised. An STP is proposed in the original blueprint of the Focal Point.

The sewerage discharge system installed at the Focal Point is not competent to handle the discharge.

Despite repeated calls, Harbir Singh, PSIEC (SE), did not respond to phone calls.