Ajnala, January 9
With the Cooperative Sugar Mill at Bhala village, near here, releasing effluents in the nearby areas, besides emitting fly ash, the residents of the surrounding villages are facing various health hazards. The mill management, though, claims to be following all pollution control norms.
Talking to The Tribune, Gurnam Singh, a resident of Dudhrai village which is bearing the maximum brunt of having the mill in its vicinity, said there was hardly any villager left who has not suffered from typhoid.
“I myself had typhoid more than once. Besides, I’m suffering from liver infection and undergoing treatment at private hospitals which is costing me dear. I’ve paid thousands of rupees on my diagnostic tests alone,” he said while showing his medical reports from an Amritsar-based lab. Surjeet Singh, another resident, said the village mostly has small and marginal farmers besides labourers and they can only afford treatment at the government hospitals. “Even if they are suffering from a serious ailment they don’t have the money to get it diagnosed and subsequently treated,” he added.
According to him, the village doesn’t have water supply facility and the residents rely on groundwater for catering to their needs. “The groundwater is contaminated up to the depth of 150 feet. One will only get potable water after digging a bore of around 300 feet.”
Moreover, there is no sewage disposal system in the village and the entire sewage is getting accumulated in a 'chhapar' on its outskirts.
The village doesn’t even have a dispensary for providing even basic healthcare facilities to its residents. The nearest health centre is located at Othian village, 5 km from Dudhrai, the road to which is potholed and it takes around 20 minutes for an individual to reach there on a four-wheeler.
When The Tribune team visited the health centre at Othian there was neither a doctor nor a pharmacist. The Class IV employees present there told that they’ve gone out on “official duty”.
Similarly, Ajmer Singh of Ugar Aulakh village said the groundwater in their village too is contaminated and it turns yellow after a day or so. The village only has an Ayurvedic dispensary which too was found shut an hour before its scheduled time for winters. This village has water supply facility, but only around 100 households have water connections, as the poor can’t afford it.
Rashpal Singh from Bhala village said he was suffering from brain tumour and has no money to get himself treated, as he works as a daily wager. Another resident Dara Singh said a number of villagers are suffering from eye and respiratory diseases caused due to emission of fly ash from the mill.
Farmer leader Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala alleged that the mill is causing air and water pollution while stating that TB cases have also been reported from the affected villages.
When contacted, Ajnala SDM Ravinder Singh said he would get it examined by the PPCB, adding that he had already received directions from the DC in this regard.
On the other hand, general manager of the mill Balbir Singh said they've installed pollution control devices and effluent treatment plant and they're well within the parameters.
He said the PPCB carries out surprise raids on their premises every year to check that the pollution level is within the permissible limit and they are following all the pollution control norms.
With the Cooperative Sugar Mill at Bhala village, near here, releasing effluents in the nearby areas, besides emitting fly ash, the residents of the surrounding villages are facing various health hazards.
