Panipat villagers form panel to act against ‘polluting’ liquor unit

Panipat, October 10

Residents of around 10 villages in the Samalkha area have formed a 51-member committee to decide the next course of action to shut down a liquor manufacturing unit. It is reportedly spreading pollution in surrounding villages and causing eye, skin allergies and other severe diseases.

The villagers alleged that the unit was polluting air, water and environment by discharging untreated effluent openly and emitting fly ash.

Enraged over the delay in action on the unit, the villagers on Sunday organised a mahapanchayat on the premises of the historical Shyam Baba temple in Chulkana village at Samalkha. They demanded that the unit be shut.

Madan Kumar, ex-sarpanch of Chulkana village, and others said the liquor unit was established in 1992 and the residents had been forced to face scores of problems for the past 28 years. “We submitted a memorandum to MP Sanjay Bhatia around 10 days ago and he has marked the complaint to the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB). We also submitted a memorandum to the SDM, Samalkha, but to no avail.”

Denying the allegations, Samalkha SDM Ashwani Malik said the HSPCB had served notice on the unit, which had to reply to the notice by October 15. — TNS

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