HSPCB gets more time to finish inspection of dyeing units

Tribune News Service

Mukesh Tandon

Sonepat, April 12

Even after three months, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has failed to complete the inspection of the polluting units which are allegedly discharging untreated effluent in drains in the NCR border districts- Faridabad, Sonepat, Jhajjar and Gurugram in the state.

60% work completed

Almost 60 per cent of the work had been done by the teams but the announcement of Lok Sabha elections halted the work after most of the staff members, including the HSPCB member secretary, were assigned election duties. P Raghavendra Rao, chairman, HSPCB

The HSPCB has sought two more months for completion of the inspection. Accepting its request, the NGT (National Green Tribunal) has asked the board to submit the final report and fixed the matter for July 16.

HSPCB Chairman P Raghavendra Rao said, “Almost 60 per cent of the work had been done by the teams but the announcement of Lok Sabha elections halted the work after most of the staff members including the HSPCB member secretary went on election duty. The work would be completed after the Model Code of Conduct is revoked after the election”.

Notably, Delhi-based environmentalist Varun Gulati had filed a complaint in the NGT. He alleged that over 500 dyeing units were operating in the residential and non-confirming areas - Dheeraj Nagar and Surya Vihar of Faridabad district; Friends Colony, Pyau Maniyari, Ferozpur Bangar of Sonepat district; Bajghera, Dhankot, Dhanwapur and Sector-37 of Gurugram and Village Badsa of Jhajjar district and Nizampur of Bahadurgarh.

He further said that the dyeing units fall under the ‘red category’ and they were running without Consent To Operate (CTO) and Consent To Establishment (CTE) and without valid permission for extraction of ground water from the Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA).

He further alleged that these units had no effluent treatment plants and they were discharging their effluents directly into drains. He further said that these illegal units discharged their effluents in Badshahpur drain in Faridabad, Sahibi drain in Gurugram, Mungeshpur drain in Delhi and drain-6 in Sonepat, all of them leading to the Yamuna, consequently polluting it as well.

Following his complaint, on January 3, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) constituted a joint panel to probe violation of environment laws. The NGT had directed the joint committee to carry out the inspection. The panel was also asked to collect samples of the effluents of the polluting units to prepare a sample analysis report to be tabled within three months.

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