Committee slams PPCB for ‘shielding’ polluting dyeing industry, files petitions
In a strong statement issued to the media on Thursday, members of the Public Action Committee (PAC) accused the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) of repeatedly colluding with the dyeing industry to shield it from legal accountability for the illegal and continuous discharge of untreated effluents from their respective Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) into the Buddha Dariya.
Kuldeep Singh Khaira and Jaskirat Singh from the PAC stated that following appeals filed by the dyeing industry against PPCB orders to stop CETPs, the PAC submitted three separate applications before the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The Tribunal, in response, directed the PPCB to act in accordance with Environmental Clearance (EC) conditions and to stop effluents into the Buddha Dariya.
Initially, the dyeing industry and the government claimed they did not understand the NGT orders, then the industry blamed the state government for failing to construct the lower Buddha Dariya drain, later it shifted their stance, claiming that environmental clearance was no longer required after a 2018 Central Government notification and then they claimed that their 2013 EC was not even theirs. Shockingly, the PPCB supported such shifting interpretations and kept changing lawyers to waste time and continue illegal discharge into the Buddha Dariya.
Dr Amandeep Singh Bains, Er Kapil Arora and Gurpreet Singh highlighted that such an interpretation was misleading and against law. Ludhiana has been declared as one of the critically polluted cities in the country by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) — a fact publicly available on the CPCB’s website. Under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, any dyeing unit within 5 km of a critically polluted area must obtain an EC before receiving even a ‘Consent to Establish’ from the PPCB.
It is worth noting that all three Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) managing CETPs had already received grants based on EC conditions outlined in 2013 and over 50 per cent of construction was completed before 2018. Interestingly, CETP directors themselves have now admitted that the NGT had issued closure orders to their plants.
On December 23, 2024, the PPCB informed the Tribunal that compliance had been achieved — a claim PAC called misleading and factually incorrect. Based on contradictory statements from the dyeing industries and ground realities, contempt petitions have been filed against the Member Secretary and Chief Engineer of the PPCB along with directors of 40MLD and 50MLD CETPs.
The PAC members also revealed that the PPCB, despite being fully aware of legal and environmental violations, has allegedly permitted ongoing contamination of the Buddha Dariya since the CETPs became operational. Even after NGT directives, the PPCB remains mute over the issue. Though criminal cases were filed against the CETP directors, the PPCB deliberately omitted full addresses in court complaints, making it impossible for courts to deliver summons. Despite being informed, the PPCB failed to rectify the error, which, the PAC claims, was a deliberate attempt to protect the violators.
It clearly shows that the PPCB is acting like a puppet regulatory body, shielding polluters rather than protecting public health,” the PAC members said here on Thursday.
Ludhiana