Rs 1 crore fine on dye unit proves effluents released in drain: Residents

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, July 15

The imposition of Rs 1 crore interim penalty on a city-based chemical dye manufacturer by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and ordering criminal prosecution of its directors has proved that several units are releasing untreated lethal industrial effluents in water bodies and air and increasing polltuion, say residents living along the Tung Dhab drain.

They say, “We are paying a heavy price in terms of our health and damage to costly appliances as the Punjab State Pollution Control Board (PSPCB) has failed to get norms complied by such units.”

Residents of various colonies along Tung Dhab drain, spanning from the Ranjit Avenue to Batala Road, Fatehgarh Churian Road, and new colonies on the north side have been complaining of foul smell and poisonous gases emanating from the drain. They say foul smell and gases were affecting their health and led to frequent malfunctioning of electronic appliances at their homes.

Resident say they had been submitting written complaints to the authorities concerned about dumping of untreated lethal industrial effluents in the drain for the past several years. They say the recent NGT order ratified their long standing claim of releasing untreated effluents by industrial units in water bodies and the failure of the pollution control board to get the norms complied by such units.

“With the passage of time, the foul smell emanating from choked drain assumed an alarming proportion, causing considerable damage to household appliances, leakage in copper pipes of refrigerators and air conditioners and corrosion and deterioration of their metal parts and paint surface,” say residents.

“The effect of fumes on surface indicates how harmful these may be for human beings if these can corrode a copper pipe in a matter of few months,” they added.