Adulteration, govt incompetence pushing brick-kiln industry to brink: Association
Owners allege organised fraud causing losses to tune of crores | 5 lakh workers risk losing jobs
The issue of adulteration in the large consignments of coal arriving daily from Gujarat’s Kandla Port in Punjab is gaining momentum. Due to coal adulteration and the government’s alleged incompetence, Punjab’s brick-kiln industry has reached the brink of collapse.
As a result, a massive threat of unemployment is looming over the state. These allegations were levelled by the Punjab Welfare Brick Kiln Association during a special press conference held at the Lodhi Club.
During the press conference, held under the leadership of president Inderpal Singh Walia, brick-kiln owners from various parts of the state rued that due to the lack of a mining policy in the state, the brick-kiln industry was already on life support and counting its last breaths. If the Centre and state government do not make timely efforts to save the industry, not only will 5 lakh laborers lose jobs but the industry would cease to exist.
Providing information to media, the association officials stated that the coal reaching the kilns from Kandla Port is not only being mixed with inferior quality coal, but water is also being sprayed on the coal-laden trucks to fraudulently increase the weight from 100 quintals to 125 quintals.
A blatant robbery is taking place. Association General Secretary Surendra Kumar Singla said that it was a matter of investigation to determine at what level this fraud was operating and which departmental officers or police personnel were involved in this daily scam worth crores of rupees.
General Secretary Singla said that the association would write to the Chief Minister and DGP Punjab demanding the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the matter so that the scam could be exposed and the culprits put behind bars.
