Month on, PPCB orders remain on paper, industry moves NGT

Even after almost a month, the orders passed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to stop the discharge of 105-MLD (million litres daily) treated effluents from three common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) into the Buddha Nullah remain on paper.

While environmentalists and activists, who have been waging a war on water pollution, have accused the PPCB of “intentionally” failing to implement its own orders and comply with the orders issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as well, the dyeing industry, which flows its effluents to the CETPs for treatment, has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to challenge the PPCB orders.

Two separate appeals against the PPCB closure orders have been listed for admission before the Principal Bench of the NGT on Thursday.

Kapil Dev of ‘Kale Pani Da Morcha’, a civil society movement against widespread pollution in the Sutlej tributary, said: “The environment clearance issued to the industry in 2013 clearly and unambiguously stated that they are not allowed to throw even the treated effluent into the Buddha Dariya. Dyers have violated this condition with impunity for all these years with active collusion and connivance of the PPCB. Now, that those papers have come out in the open and the CPCB issued binding orders on the PPCB to correct this illegality on August 12, the PPCB was left with no other choice but to issue orders to close the CETPs, though they did so with a significant delay of over one month.”

He said despite the PPCB orders issued on September 25 and 26, these CETPs were continuously running and throwing their effluent into the nullah in brazen defiance of the orders and the law. “The industry had earlier appealed to the appellate authority under the Water Act, 1974, before the Secretary Environment, against these orders but could not get any relief,” he said.

Jaskirat Singh, another founder member of Kale Pani Da Morcha, said the team members visited the Tajpur Road outlets of the two CETPs Wednesday morning to check the current status and found that the plants were still releasing their effluent uninterruptedly into the Sutlej tributary.

He wondered how the PPCB and the state government could tolerate this brazen defiance of the law and their own orders. “Now, it remains to be seen how this continued violation of the orders of statutory authorities would be treated by the NGT when it hears their appeal,” he stated.

Activists Amandeep Singh Bains and Kuldeep Singh Khaira said the contamination of water body was an offence as per provisions of the Water Act and penalty at a rate of 10 paisa per litre could be imposed as environmental compensation which means, the daily penalty on these two polluting SPVs (operating CETPs through private companies) would come out to be Rs 90 lakh and for one year, it would be more than Rs 328 crore and for past 10 years, it would be Rs 3,280 crore.

“From this, one can imaginehow much damage to the environment has been done by these two clusters,” they asserted.

There has been a strong protest against the toxic pollution of the nullah under the banner of Kale Pani Da Morcha for the past few months, which has spread to large parts of South Punjab and Rajasthan, where residents and farmers were forced to use the polluted Sutlej water for drinking and irrigation purposes.

The activists have announced a plan to close the illegal outlets dumping wastewater into the Buddha Nullah on December 3 if the state government failed to act before that.