Grievances body pans ‘corrupt’ Punjab pollution board

Ludhiana : The Punjab Pradesh Pollution Control Board (PPCB) is the most corrupt department. They don't do anything to control pollution. Even after looking at effluents coming out from factories, they turn a blind eye," said Kuldeep Singh Gharkna, member of the District Grievances Committee, while talking about a factory between village Poorba and Diwala on Friday.

Former MLA Mann Singh Garcha and Riakot MLA Harmohinder Singh Pardhan also supported Kuldeep, saying the Board was doing nothing except taking bribes from industrialists and allowing them to continue polluting the ground water.

No PPCB official objected to these allegations and Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari, Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh and many other officers remained mum as well.

Kuldeep said, "A plastic manufacturing unit in Samrala is not treating waste, which finally ends up in fields and the ground. The Board, however, has not taken any action till date."

It was said that the unit has been sent a notice and the matter of its closure has been sent to the the PPCB chairman. The DC said, "Until the chairman takes any decision, we will book the unit for being a public nuisance and take action against the owner."

Garcha supplemented the complaint as he said, "Factories also throw effluents in parks of Dhandari Kalan and all plants are now dying. The PPCB members, however, were busy taking their "monthly package" from industrialists and hence turned a blind eye to the nuisance."

Kuldeep alleged, "The PPCB officials helped the owner by intimating him that his complaint has been forwarded to the DC. Apart from this, former BJP Councillor Pran Nath Bhatia raised the issue of garbage littered on the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Road, where LIT has not provided any place for dumping it. LIT Executive Officer Rakesh Garg, however, alleged that the MC sweepers were throwing garbage on the road. The Commissioner asked Garg to provide a place for garbage dump in the area to solve the problem.

Another member, Shivtaar Singh Bajwa, complained that the road along the Buddha Nallah from the railway line till Haibowal needed to be repaired. The MC Commissioner announced that Rs 35 crore will be spent on the construction of the road, which will be completed by this year. MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik raised objections about garbage being thrown in Sidhwan Canal.

Another member Renu Thaper asked the DC to stop construction of a petrol pump near Chand Cinema. Nearly 46 complaints came in the meeting and 30 were listened to.

Tid-bits

Comrade Sukhwinder Singh Sekhon said in village Mohi, an anganwadi centre has 12 staff members but only 36 children have been enrolled. He asked the DC to look into the matter and divert additional people to under-staffed centres. He also claimed the SDM did not look into a particular complaint and was not interested in handling the issue. The DC, however, snubbed him saying it is not possible for the SDM to visit each and every site personally.

Though the Grievances Redressal Committee is a public platform, most complaints brought up during the meeting were personal.

Varun Mehta, another member, said many anti-social elements sit in the Rakh Bagh and take drugs. The police commissioner, however, denied any such incident.
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