Industrialists meet Manohar Lal Khattar over ban on diesel generators

Panipat, August 27

Worried over the ban orders released by the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) over the use of diesel generator (DG) sets by industries in the National Capital Region (NCR) from October 1, a delegation of Panipat industrialists on Saturday met Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at his residence in Chandigarh.

No option but to use these

Industrialists do not prefer diesel generator sets as these are not economically viable. But in breakdown situations, we have no other option but to use these. Pritam Singh Sachdeva, president, Panipat Industrialists’ Association

Pritam Singh Sachdeva, president, Panipat Industrialists’ Association; Bheem Rana, president, Haryana Environmental Management Society; and Nitin Arora, adviser, Panipat Dyers’ Association, were part of the delegation.

The Chief Minister listened to their problems.

Sachdeva said CAQM’s orders mainly affected Haryana industries as 64 per cent of the state area was located in the NCR in which 90 per cent industries were operational.

Panipat is a textile hub having continuous process industries. Industrialists were not happy running diesel sets as these were not economically viable, he said. “But in emergency breakdown situations, we have no other option,” he said. “If power breakdown occurs, we need to supply power and fuel to the boilers and thermopacks immediately. If that is not done, a big mishap can occur,” Sachdeva said.

“We assured the Chief Minister that if the power department informs us about scheduled cut, we will not run machinery during that period,” Sachdeva said.