Alleging police inaction, villagers set to resume dharna from tomorrow
Villagers of Barmalipur near here, fed up by the “callous attitude” of the Doraha police for not initiating action against a local factory for allegedly dumping chemical waste in the village periphery, have decided to resume their dharna from Monday.
The villagers had earlier lifted their dharna after getting police assurance in this regard. The villagers alleged that the waste was emptied as a matter of routine and was highly acidic and had spoiled the produce in the fields, apart from affecting human and animal health.
Workers of the factory not only dumped acidic waste but also set it on fire, as a result of which many trees had been reduced to ashes, they alleged. Sarpanch of the village Karamjeet Singh said on Wednesday some villagers caught a factory worker when he was emptying a tanker filled with chemical waste on the panchayati land situated between Kaddon and Barmalipur villages, after which they immediately contacted the Doraha police.
“The police impounded the tanker and took the worker in its custody, but to the astonishment of the villagers, the tanker, which was containing waste near the panchayati land, was empty by the time it reached the police station,” the villagers alleged.
The villagers, along with the BKU under its district president Amarpreet Singh, staged a dharna which they lifted after assurance by the police to act the very next day.
“Next day, finding no positive development from the side of the Doraha police, we wrote an application to SSP, Khanna ,who assured us action in the case. If the police fails to act, we shall be forced to resume our dharna on Monday and lift it only when the owner of the factory and the workers who indulge in such illegal activity are arrested,” the farm unionist added.
The villagers regretted that the emptying of the non-treated toxins every now and then had rendered the groundwater unfit for human as well as animal consumption. They were forced to put up with this sorry state of affairs. A distance of at least 4 to 5 km in the village periphery had been affected, they complained.
Not only Barmalipur village, a nearby historical gurudwara, inn, educational institutions and Bhagwan Mahavir Mandir, too, had to bear the brunt of this toxic waste. Hardam Singh, acting SHO, Doraha, said the acidic waste was discharged on the panchyati land itself and the little which was left leaked on the way. The villagers are unnecessarily alleging police inaction. The PPCB is doing the needful and its report shall make us act further,” he said.
