LUDHIANA: When it appeared that all is fine between businessmen and Punjab Pollution Control Board (
PPCB), fissures erupted again between the parties on Thursday.
Acting chief engineer of PPCB Pradeep Gupta who had presided over a meeting on Wednesday dismissed the claims of the businessmen that he had transferred a junior engineer Malkit Singh for allegedly harassing the traders.
Gupta said, “This is totally false. In fact, the JE does not have charge of any area.” Rejected another claim made by the businessmen, he said he had never said the department would conduct no checks at any industrial units without receiving a complaint.
He said, “The PPCB has full authority to conduct surprise checks and there is no such law that checking can’t be conducted until there is a complaint against the industrial unit. No such claim was made by me or any of my officers during the meeting with the businessmen.”
Expressing shock over the statement issued by acting chief engineer, Jaswinder Thukral, president of Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association (JSMA), said, “It is very disappointing that such a senior officer is taking U-turn after promising these things to the businessmen. But we are not going to sit silently.
“We have called a meeting of our association members and businessmen of the area on Friday where we will plan our next course of action,” Thukral added.
On Sunday, Thukral and his associates had given a call to launch a protest against PPCB and locking its office next week alleging that some officers were harassing businessmen by conducting checks at their industrial units.
When other business associations supported the protest call, the PPCB called a meeting on Wednesday with businessmen to resolve the issues.
