Tankers impounded for polluting Yamuna

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Panipat, October 20

A joint team of the CM flying squad, CID and Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) caught two tractor-tankers pouring untreated industrial effluents into the drain number-2 that is connected with the Yamuna.

Sources said the CM flying squad received a tip-off that some industrialists in the city were pouring effluents directly into the drain on the Sanoli road at night.

Following the tip-off, a joint team of the CM flying squad, officials of CID and HSPCB, along with the local police, raided Kurar village and nabbed a tractor which was pouring untreated effluents in the drain and also nabbed the tractor driver, Anil of Sanoli.

The driver disclosed that he had been bringing waste water from various industrial units and pouring it into the drain. The team also caught another tractor near the drain and the tractor owner, Arshad of Panipat, disclosed that he brought an untreated effluent of a factory in Kurar and poured it into the drain.

Inspector Krishan Kumar said both drivers failed to produce any document or valid licence for discharging of waste water, after which the tractors were impounded in the Sanoli police station and also fined Rs 20,000 each.

The River Yamuna Monitoring Committee (RYMC) has also said in its reports that millions of litres of untreated effluents are being discharged into river in various districts.

As per the RYMC reports, in Panipat, the actual discharge reaching the STPs was 42 MLD against 81.80 MLD sewage generated.

Varun Gulati, an environmentalist, said the pouring of untreated effluents, either sewage or industrial waste, into the drain number 2 in Panipat and drain number 6 in Sonepat were directly polluting the river.

More than 60 illegal denim dyeing units are operational near the drain number 6 in the Kundli area and they dispose of their effluents directly into the drain number 6, which leads to the pollution of the Yamuna, he said. The situation is similar in Panipat, he added.

“I have filed several complaints against the illegal discharge of untreated effluents by these industrial units on the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) portal and with the HSPCB in the last one year but no action has been initiated,” Gulati said.

Kamaljeet Singh, Regional Officer, HSPCB, said tractors had been impounded on the spot and a notice had been issued to an industry in Kurar village.