Ludhiana: While issuing warning to the industrial units, especially dyeing units, for throwing untreated water into the MC sewerage lines, officials of Punjab Pollution Control Board have given two-week time to such unit owners for mending their ways. Recently, after receiving a few complaints regarding dirty water being discharged into the MC sewer, the PPCB had checked a few dyeing units and irregularities were noticed. During the checking, it came to light that these unit owners were not using the effluent treatment plants to treat the water and rather it was being thrown illegally into the sewer system.
The units have been given time till November 6 and after that a special checking drive would be launched, following which defaulting units would be sealed. The PPCB officials have claimed that owners of these units will have to disclose at the regional offices that they were bypassing the procedure of treating this water and then close down that system by November. As per the PPCB officials, at Tajpur road and Focal Point a few such defaulter units are still functional.
The member secretary of PPCB, Karunesh Garg, said, “This is a warning for the defaulter units to set their system right and this warning has been issued 15 days before starting of any drive so that unit owners do not give any excuse by saying that they were not aware of it.
Incidentally, a former BJP councillor had also complained against discharge of untreated water coming from dyeing units into the MC sewer system near Shingaar cinema. It was only after that the checking was carried out in a few units. Even Congress MLA Sanjay Talwar has been raising this issue for long.
Due to untreated water coming from the dyeing units and falling into the MC sewer, the sewerage treatment plants are unable to treat even the domestic waste properly. The STP at Tajpur road has been declared defunct because of the dyeing units’ water flowing to the STP along with domestic discharge. So, after 15 days it will be seen whether this warning has led to any difference or not.