In a major crackdown, teams of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted surprise raids at 15 industrial units of Majha and Doaba region of the state. During the raids, some of the industrial units were found violating the pollution norms with respect to air and water. A team headed by PPCB Member Secretary and three teams headed by the board’s Senior Environmental Engineers, raided industrial units of Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshpiarpur and Amritsar on Saturday evening. The raids continued till Sunday afternoon.
One of the raiding teams, headed by PPCB Member Secretary Dr Babu Ram, visited H.R. International, Sahni Exports, AKS Eng.Co. and JMP Eng. Co. Jalandhar, and found that H.R International and Sahni Exports were flouting various provisions of environmental laws. The team collected the samples from these units for analysis. The other two units were, however, found closed.
PPCB Senior Environmental Engineer RK Gupta raided five industrial units of Kapurthala. “Four industrial units were found closed, while the fifth, M/s ESS ESS Kay Eng. Co. Pvt. Ltd. Unit-III, was found polluting the air, as four of its grinding units were expelling polluted air without Air Pollution Control Devices (APCD)”, informed PPCB Deputy Director (PR) Dr Charanjit Singh.
Meanwhile, another team led by PPCB Senior Environmental Engineer Ashok Kalsi visited M/s GNA Duraparts, Mehtiana, Hawkins Pressure Cooker in Hoshiarpur, and ABC Paper Mill, Saila Khurd, and found that their Effluent Treatment Plant’s (ETP’s) were in operation and samples were collected for analysis.
A team led by Parmjit Singh Sidhu raided M/s Nijjar Agro and J.P. Processor in Amritsar and found that untreated effluent was being discharged into the nearby drain without the Board’s permission.
“Samples have been collected for analysis,” said Dr Charanjit.
