Tannery owners remind DC of Punjab CM’s poll promise

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, July 20

Having been promised by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann that the state government would bear the additional 15 per cent share of the Rs 28.64 cr expenditure being incurred on the upgrade of the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), the tannery owners have taken up the matter with the district administration.

In the run-up to the Jalandhar West bypoll, the CM had held an industry meet on July 5 wherein he had also invited the tannery owners of the city. The tannery owners had demanded from the CM that since their business had got badly affected, the government should bear their burden of payment of Rs 4.3 crore share (15 pc share) in the CETP upgrade.

Amandeep Sandhu, president, Punjab Leather Federation (PLF), said, “The CETP with 5 MLD capacity was to be upgraded for which the Centre was to bear the 70% cost, state 15% and stakeholders 15%. We have said that since we are not in a position to bear this 15% share, we had asked the CM that the government should bear this additional cost and make its share 30 pc (Rs 8.6 crore) to which he had agreed. So, when Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal took a tour of the Leather Complex today, we reminded him of this promise made by the CM”.

Hira Lal Verma, Director, Punjab Effluent Treatment Society (PETS), said, “After getting commitment from the CM, we have already written to the secretaries of the departments of finance, industry and environment informing that we are no longer liable to pay this 15 per cent share and that it has to come from the state government.”

Verma said, “When the PPCB had imposed restrictions on the wet units in the leather complex around 7-8 years back and got their drums sealed owing to improper functioning of the CETP, we had started to lose our clientele of leather products. Ever since our clients found other options as in Pakistan and Bangladesh, we have not been able to rope them back. The 60 wet units which were earlier there in the Leather Complex have come down just to 30. Even the remaining 30 units are working to just 25 pc of their actual capacity.”

He explained, “We have two CETPs in Leather Complex, one with five MLD capacity and the other with 1.5 MLD capacity. But our discharge initially was 10 MLD and we were demanding a new CETP to cover it up. But now, our discharge is as low as two MLD, which itself explains the working condition here. But we are expecting that when the state pays up 30 per cent share of the CETP and the plant gets upgraded, we will be in a position to get back our clients again.”