Protesting against the closure orders issued by PPCB to 35 dyeing units in the city, various dyeing units’ associations today sat on dharna outside the Punjab Pollution Control Board’s office at Gill Road. The BJP and SAD leaders threw their lot behind the agitators by sitting in the dharna along with them.While addressing the rally, the BJP district president, O.P Bhardwaj, vice-president Kamal Chaitly and SAD president Hakam Singh Giaspura said they would not let the closure happen. The federation of dyeing units also submitted a memorandum to the officials of local PPCB office to present their version. This memorandum will be sent to chairman, PPCB, through the local office. It may be mentioned that apart from issuing closure notices to 35 units, the rest of the industry has also been told by the board to achieve zero liquid discharge. V.K Goyal, general secretary of the Federation of Dyeing Units , said,”Punjab Pollution Control Board with the consent of the High Court has engaged National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, to study the whole issue and the report is still pending. We are surprised as to how PPCB could issue closure notices to 35 units.”He also added that the High Court’s orders pointed towards achieving pollution control norms fixed by PPCB only and not zero liquid-discharge or closure of units.The agitators demanded that the decision be reviewed.T.R Mishra and Rajat Sood from Ludhiana Dyeing Association and many other leaders were also present at the dharna, which continued for more than two hours.
