Patiala, February 5

Even after one-and-half months, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has not resumed its drive to conduct surprise raids on various industries in the state to check compliance of the pollution norms.

Senior officers of the Board said that the special drive, which was "suspended" in the third week of December, was unlikely to be resumed till formation of the new government. Many senior field officers of the Board have claimed that they have got verbal instructions from the top brass not to conduct any surprise raid, primarily due to "political reasons"."Since majority of the industrialists have political affiliations, the authorities seem worried that conducting raids at particular industry may raise a storm. Hence, we have been given verbal instructions not to conduct any surprise raid on any category of the industry", said a senior environmental engineer posted in Majha region, while preferring anonymity.

Notably, in view of the fact that industry plays a significant role in raising funds during elections, the PPCB had stopped conducting raids on various industries in the state, including distilleries, dyeing units, plastic manufacturers, brick kilns, battery manufacturers etc.

It is pertinent to mention that from the month of June last till mid December, the then PPCB chairman Kahan Singh Pannu had issued instructions to all the field officers to meticulously plan and conduct surprise raids. The pace at which the Board had conducted raids across the state, including Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Dera Bassi, Jalandhar and Ferozepur, was unprecedented. During the period, the Board had issued show-cause notices to hundreds of the violators and one of the distillery units was even sealed for defying the pollution norms. However, in December Pannu was replaced with Raminder Singh. Raminder joined the office on December 21 but soon after Ravinder Singh (PCS) was given the charge of the PPCB chairman. "Because of the laxity shown by the PPCB by stalling its drive, there are reports that many industries have again started defying water and air pollution control norms", said senior Board officers.

Refuting that the drive to conduct surprise raids has been discontinued, Board Member Secretary Dr Babu Ram said, "If we are not supplying information about the raids to media does not mean that the Board has suspended the drive."

However, when confronted, Babu Ram failed to given any statistics about the raids conducted as per his claims. He, however, justified himself by stating, "It is the routine process and giving figures off hand is not possible."

Seechewal to take up matter with senior officials

Noted environmentalist and PPCB member Balbir Singh Seechewal said that he would strongly take up the matter with senior Board authorities. "Discontinuing the surprise raids is totally uncalled for and will adversely affect the momentum made by the Board against the defaulting industrial units", he said. Expressing anguish over the matter, Seechewal assured that he would not only press the Board to resume the drive but would also find out the reasons as to why the drive had been suspended.