Over Rs 31 lakh green fine recommended against 5 dyeing units

Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, July 18

The Regional Office of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) in Bahadurgarh here has recommended an environmental compensation of Rs 31.70 lakh against five dyeing units at Badhsa village for gross violation of guidelines.

The action has come following a complaint being heard by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against such units. In its report submitted to the NGT recently, the local office of the HSPCB has disclosed the recommendation for the imposition of compensation on the units.

Varun Gulati, the complainant, had approached the NGT last year against highly polluting ‘red category’ dyeing units being operated in various districts — Badhsa of Jhajjar, Dheeraj Nagar and Surya Vihar of Faridabad, Bajghera, Dhankot, Dhanwapur, Sector 37 of Gurugram and Friends Colony, Pyau Maniyari and Ferozpur Banger of Sonepat.

In his complaint, he alleged that around 500 such unauthorised dyeing units were operating in residential and non-conforming areas in violations of rules. These units had neither installed effluent treatment plants (ETPs) nor had any other anti-pollution devices. They were discharging effluents in the open or into drains that joined the Yamuna, he claimed.

In compliance of the NGT’s directives, a joint committee comprising Central Pollution Control Board scientist Rishab Srivastava, Badli-based naib tehsildar Shekhar, and Amit, Assistant Environmental Engineer, HSPCB (Bahadurgarh), was formed to verify the factual position and take remedial action.

On March 27, the committee inspected the units and submitted its report that four such units mentioned by the complainant had already been sealed for violating norms.

Sources said the HSPCB had also served a show-cause notice on the units, but they had failed to submit a reply. It had now recommended compensation against five units to the state authorities.

As per the report submitted by the HSPCB, Rs 15.60 lakh environmental compensation had, on July 15, been recommended against M/s Jeans dyeing unit, Rs 4.90 lakh each against M/s DK Enterprises, M/s Manya Dyeing and an unnamed jeans dyeing unit, and Rs 1.40 lakh against M/s DA Wash at Badhsa.

Amit said: “The dyeing units neither had Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate nor had they installed an ETP. The effluent was being discharged directly into the drain through a bypass arrangement.”