Liquor factory closure issue: Punjab govt fails to file reply before NGT; hearing rescheduled to Sept 26

PAC members questioned why the Punjab government was dragging its feet in filing the reply in the NGT, especially when the Central Pollution Control Board has submitted a report with the NGT detailing how water samples drawn from 29 borewells near the distillery, Malbros International Private Limited, at Mansoorwal village were found unfit for drinking and had an unpleasant odour. Total dissolved solids (TDS), boron and sulphates were found in high concentrations beyond acceptable limits in the water samples, according to the CPCB report.

PAC member Kuldeep Singh Khaira said, “They didn’t file reply in NGT on Monday. They are not making the report of an independent committee formed by Punjab government public, what are they up to? On the one hand Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann takes to a video to announce closure of the unit, on the other the government has been delaying taking action about the matter in the NGT and the high court.”

The CPCB while submitting the report before the NGT had written to the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in which various shortcomings of Malbros International Private Limited were highlighted. The unit is lying closed since July 24 last year due to protests by villagers outside the distillery.

“We want to know as to what the Punjab government is doing for the water supply in that area,” said Kapil Arora, a member of PAC.

“This CPCB report has put a big question mark over the validity of an earlier report by PPCB which had declared samples of water from the area fit for drinking,” said Roman Brar, convenor of Sanjha Morcha Zira, while talking to the media in Chandigarh.

The PPCB report was prepared on directions of a committee led by Justice Jasbir Singh which also had environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal as a member.

Baldev Zira of Sanjha Morcha Zira said, “The point 14 of the CPCB report clearly mentions that water samples from two borewells inside the Malbros plant were found to be contaminated with high concentration of heavy metals, COD (chemical oxygen demand) and colour (grey or blackish water). The conclusion was drawn based on clear and strong scientific evidence that the factory was discharging its toxic chemical effluents into the borewells contaminating the drinking water in the area. This is what we had always been saying but the Punjab government (through the district administration) kept on protecting this industry.”

Fateh Dhillon of Mansoorwal village said, “Three villages around the ethanol plant, namely Mansoorwal, Mahianwala Kalan and Ratol Rohi, were found to be having a high concentration of toxic elements and heavy metals in their groundwater including high levels of cyanide in one. We believe this to be the root cause of diseases like cancer in humans and animals in our area. We demand alternate sources of clean drinking water for all affected areas on an urgent basis so as to avoid further health damage to citizens and animals.”

Kapil Dev of PAC – which is the petitioner in the NGT case – said, “We strongly demand registration of an FIR against the unit under various environment Acts in this case as it needs a criminal investigation by the police and law enforcement. How PPCB report in September 2022 had given a clean chit to the unit also needs to be thoroughly investigated as it cost Rs 20 crore to the Punjab government when the high court relying on that report imposed the penalty on the state government for not getting the dharna lifted from outside the unit.”

Kuldeep Singh Khaira of PAC said, “We demand immediate release of the full report conducted by various committees formed by the Punjab government in December last year so that people can know its findings.”

Jaskirat Singh, a chemical engineer who is a member of PAC, said, “Samples of water were taken by CPCB in February this year whereas the plant has been lying shut since last July last year. Most of the contaminants in the ethanol plant effluents are biodegradable and would have vanished in these eight months. The fact that CPCB has found such strong evidence even after a long gap of months speaks volumes about the poor quality of groundwater.”

The PAC members demanded that besides issuing a written order to close this unit, the Punjab government should immediately make arrangements to provide potable water in affected areas and start decontaminating the groundwater and soil. The villagers who have died due to cancer, hepatitis, kidney failure, etc. and villagers facing health issues must be compensated as per directions of the Supreme Court in similar matters, they said.

Sanjha Morcha Zira’s Roman Brar added, “The CPCB report has proven that our peaceful protest in this regard since July 24 last year is justified.”

Meanwhile, Sources said that the PPCB will now call the factory stakeholders for a hearing by the end of this month. “It is now a fit case for seizure and sealing. The board will now keep the reports in front of them and say there is an incriminating evidence and seek their reply. But in any case, the reports have said it all,” a government functionary said.

In January, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had announced that his government would shut Malhotra’s liquor factory. Though the PPCB, vide an order dated February 3, had refused to give consent to the owners to operate the liquor unit, it was finding it difficult to issue permanent closure orders.

Since the government never issued a formal notification on the closure, the locals have continued their protest in front of the unit.