Farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) staged a protest outside the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) office here on the 46th day of their agitation on Wednesday to highlight the issue of discharge of industrial waste into water bodies.
The KMSC has been protesting outside the DC office since November 26 and have made three toll plazas in the district free for commuters since December 15. Union leaders said they were not against industrial units but the government must make them adhere to all pollution control norms.
KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said: “Industries must be asked to treat waste water before discharging it directly into nullahs, canals and even underground borewells.” Pandher said groundwater reserve has been contaminated with highly dangerous chemicals and industrial waste.
A large number of people in the state are dependent on groundwater for drinking, cooking and other purposes, he said, adding that the pollution control board had turned a blind eye to the unethical and illegal activities of industrial units which was a cause for concern. “We want the authorities to wake up from their slumber and realise that their children too are drinking the same polluted water,” said Pandher.
The KMSC leaders said the government should ask all industrial units to set up sewerage treatment plants and effluent treatment plants to treat waste water generated by them in their units. They said all government departments, dealing with industrial units, seem to have turned a blind eye to the pollution being caused by these units.
The leaders said as Punjab is an agricultural state, the priority of the government should be to set up food processing and agriculture-based industry. They said pollution-causing industries should not be allowed to set up their units.
