To keep Yamuna clean, Panipat units to remain shut till Chhath Puja

Industrial units, especially dyeing units, considered as the main source of pollution in the Yamuna, will be closed for a week up to Chhath Puja to keep the river clean.

Yamuna pollution was a major issue between the state government and the former AAP government in Delhi during the Delhi Assembly polls. Now, both the BJP-led governments in Delhi and Haryana are making efforts to clean the river.

Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi recently directed the DCs of Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Gurugram, and Faridabad — districts adjoining the Yamuna — to ensure the cleaning of the river and the drains connecting to the Yamuna in their respective districts.

The DCs of Panipat and Sonepat held meetings with members of various industrial associations to ensure the proper functioning of effluent treatment plants (ETPs) installed in their industries.

Around 400 dyeing units are operating in the city, of which around 300 are in Sector 29 (Part 2), and several are being run illegally on the city's outskirts. Scores of bleaching and

dyeing units are discharging over 50 million litres per day (MLD) of water daily, but the capacity of the existing two CETPs is 42 MLD in Sector 29. The units on the outskirts and in the old industrial area have no CETP facility, hence thousands of litres of effluent is being discharged into drains 1 and 2.

Dr Virender Kumar Dahiya, Panipat DC, said a meeting had been held with industrialists recently, directing them to curb the pollution level in the Yamuna, leading up to Chhath Puja.

Nitin Arora, president, Panipat Dyers’ Association, said the industrialists would keep their units shut for a week, but emergency work of exporters would continue as they had time-bound consignments.