Jawali villagers protest setting up of brewery

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, September 13

Residents of Bhanei ward of Jawali nagar panchayat held a protest last evening against setting up of a brewery in Samlana gram panchayat of Jawali subdivision in Kangra.

They demanded that the brewery should be shifted away from the residential area. Earlier also, residents of Samlana had held a demonstration against setting up of a brewery there.

The state industry department had acquired around 7 hectares of government land in Samlana, Maira and Bhanei, and leased out to Himachal Breweries for setting up a large scale industry in 1996, but the project was shifted to Baddi. In1998, this land was leased out to Tefcil Breweries Ltd, a Delhi-based private company, but it had failed to set up its unit over two decades. The company got physical possession of the vacant land in 2015.The local residents started raising objections when the company began fencing of the leased out land by erecting cemented poles.

Govind, Rajiv Kumar, Neeraj, Shekhar, Satya Devi, Mahinder, Seeta, Sahni and Saina Devi, residents of Bhanei ward, lamented that the villagers would lose access to the path leading to a local government middle school, Anganwadi Bhawan, and a serai, besides five paths to Uprla Maira, Bhanai and Bhol villages. They said their houses would become useless if they lost these paths. They alleged that the private company had felled trees adjoining the school, and demolished the water tank and the school gate for taking possession of the leased out land.

Amit Kumar, a local resident and former president of the Yuvak Mandal, alleged that norms were being violated by setting up a brewery plant in Bhanei, adjoining a government school. He said the brewery would pollute the environment and deplete the underground water resources in the rural area. Local MLA Arjun Thakur said he would take up this issue with Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Revenue Minister Mohinder Singh Thakur. He said the company should be allowed to set up its brewery in Samlana area only, where the construction had begun, while rest of the leased out land should be restored to the state government.

Som Raj Jamwal, office in-charge, Tefcil Breweries Ltd, said the beer factory plant was being set up at Samlana and its ancillary unit at Bhanei as per the guidelines of the state.