Zira liquor factory protest: We are not against industry but against pollution: SKM

Gurdeep Singh Rampura, president of BKU (Dakaunda) – Bathinda unit, said, “A picture is being painted that the farmers and all those who are protesting the liquor unit are anti-industry. Actually, they are not against industry but are against pollution. Any industry which causes pollution of any kind is not needed in our state. So the authorities must ponder the question, ‘Should employment be at the cost of polluting the environment?’ Also, ‘don’t the industries have a responsibility to follow pollution norms?’.”

Harwinder Singh Kotli, a farmer, said, “The owner of the liquor factory is a former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA. But now it seems that he is close to the ruling AAP government. And that is the reason the Punjab government easily gave away Rs 20 crore to the factory as directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, rather than contesting the factory’s pollution credentials.”

It may be noted that the factory owner had moved the high court wherein the court asked the Punjab government to get the dharna shifted 300 metres away from the factory gate. But as the government failed to do so and since the owner claimed that he had suffered a huge loss on account of the closure of the unit, the court imposed a fine of Rs 20 crore on the Punjab government.
Balwinder Singh Jethuke, general secretary of BKU (Dakaunda) – Bathinda unit, said, “The biting cold conditions have failed to deter the protesters.

They are digging in their heels, but the government is having a callous disregard for the cause and the plight of the demonstrators.”

Buta Singh Tungwali, a Bathinda-based farmer, said, “This is a public movement against pollution. We are seeking a clean environment. All the political parties have revealed their true colours. No party has taken a stand for masses, except issuing a few statements for the heck of it.”

The ongoing dharna against the liquor unit is led by Sanjha Morcha Zira. The liquor factory, according to protesting villagers, is polluting underground water in several villages in the area, apart from causing air pollution. The protesters also want that the liquor unit should be shut down permanently.

Sanjha Morcha Zira has given January 15 ultimatum to the government to lodge an FIR against the factory owner.

A 40-year-old villager (Rajveer Singh) had died due to kidney failure on December 28 last year. The morcha members have been blaming groundwater pollution as the reason for his ailment and subsequent death, and so they are seeking a police action against the owner of the liquor unit.
More than 70 unions are supporting the dharna against the liquor unit, out of which 57 are farmer unions.