PAC Sutlej and Mattewara Forest demands transparency fromChanni government on Sutlej Action Plan and pollution free environment as afundamental right
PAC Sutlej and Mattewara Jungle organized a silent"Freedom from Pollution" protest in front of Dr BR Ambedkar Statuenear Jalandhar Bye Pass here today. The protest was led by Col CM Lakhanpal.The activists demanded pollution free environment esp air and water from thestate govt as guaranteed by the article 21 of the constitution of India.
Adv Inderjit Kaur of who specializes in human rights andwas present at the protest said, "The article 21 of our constitutioncreated by Dr Ambedkar guarantees right to life. The supreme court has statedin its 1991 judgement in Subhash Kumar vs State of Bihar case that the right tolife guaranteed by article 21 includes the right of enjoyment of pollution-freewater and air for full enjoyment of life. Through this case, the courtrecognized the right to a wholesome environment as part of the fundamentalright to life. Government of Punjab has been shirking its duty of protectingcitizens from polluted air and water. Our rivers have been mercilesslypolluted. Industries and municipal authorities have been dumping toxic sewageand effluents right under the nose of PPCB. Govt should stop misleadingcitizens with its propaganda in the name of development. Govt is promotingpolluting industries in the most irresponsible and opaque manner. "
"Hedemanded that govt bring complete transparency in its projects of rejuvenatingSutlej and Buddha Dariya and also in itsindustrial policy esp about polluting industries and also in the functioning ofPPCB", she added.
Ms Puja Sen Gupta of Earthcare Welfare Society said ,"Punjab needs ecofriendly industries which do not damage its surface andunderground water. The govt should stop promoting polluting industries furtherin Punjab and focus on bringing non polluting industries which do not harm ourwater bodies like Buddha Dariya and environment."
Gurpreet Singh Chandbaja president of Bhai GhanayiaCancer Roko Seva Society Faridkot said, "We have visited the confluencepoint of Bhattian STP outlet drain with Sutlej near Kasabad village many times.This supposedly treated water coming out of the STP Bhattian is jet black andso pungent smelling that it is very difficult to even stand near the drain.This huge flow of almost 200 million litres per day is being mixed into puredrinking water of Sutlej. This is obviously violation of the right to life andpollution free environment of the people of Malwa and Rajasthan who drink thiswater as guaranteed by the constitution framed by the founding fathers of thiscountry."
Jaskirat Singh of Naroa Punjab Manch said, "Govthides all kinds of data which should be available in the public domain. Nodesign documents of sewage or effluent treatment plants are available on PPCBwebsite. Be it the CETPs of the dyeing industry or STPs of the municipalcorporation Ludhiana not much information is available that a common citizencan download and see. For example the only environment clearance report ofBahadurke CETP of the dyeing industry that is available online is from 2014 andsays it is a zero liquid discharge plant which it is not to the best of ourunderstanding. On the other hand there is no document available online tounderstand its design, layout, expected input and output parameters, testreports etc."
Mohinder Singh Sekhon of Punjab Bhasha Pasar Bhaicharasaid, "There were some media reports of PPCB officials asking for hugebribes from Bahadurke industry association in the recent past. Apparently evena complaint was filed by the industrial association in this regard which waslater withdrawn as per media reports. Such things create a lot of doubts and there should be a lot more authentic dataand information available in the public domain related to functioning of sewageand effluent treatment plants to ensure all is well."