Green Punjab land now spewing booze ……….Priya Yadav
Distilleries Untreated Effluents Polluting Groundwater
Distilleries Untreated Effluents Polluting Groundwater
Chandigarh: It would seem like a Bacchus lovers paradise,a dream come true.Only,its not.A pollution level survey is looking into excessive levels of alcohol in the groundwater around four major distilleries in Punjab as effluents from distilleries are discharging their untreated effluents directly into the soil.
But,for residents,its not all joy.An unbearable stench of rot hangs heavily in the air as you drive from Chandigarh to Dera Bassi,where one of the distilleries is located.A team of Punjab legislators has found that nearly 30-km area around the four distilleries has become highly polluted and contains huge amounts of alcohol.
Sukhwinder Kaur,a resident of Dera Bassi,where one of the distilleries is located says,The smell of liquor,when it is fermented,hangs in the air all the time.When you drink water,it is not just yellow in colour but smells of liquor.
Punjab is known for men with an unsatiable thirst for liquor.The state earns maximum revenue,more than from any other product,including foodgrains,from liquor sales.Expectedly,the state has the highest rate of liver failures and,probably,the poorest equipped to deal with the medical crisis.
Virsa Singh Valtoha,an Akali MLA who is part of the Punjab Vidhan Sabhas Pollution Control Committee,said the situation is alarming as it is detrimental to peoples health.This is very serious.We are looking into the norms that are being flouted by various distillieries that is causing such serious health hazard to people living in the vicinity.
The committee report has not yet been tabled,said Valtoha.The four distilleries are in Dera Bassi,Pathankot,Hamira and Gurdaspur.These units have been defaulting perpetually by discharging untreated effluents in water channels and soil,causing not just air pollution but destruction of aquatic life as well.
Since these distilleries find use of coal expensive,they use rice husk and later scatter the ash all along roads and vacant areas,which is the prime reason for the unbearable stench.Beer distilling and bottling plants discharge waste in streams and ponds that seeps into the ground.At many places,the waste after production of alcohol is discharged into the rivers.
Babu Ram,secretary of the Punjab Pollution Control Board,said,People resent the discharge in rivers especially in the areas where it passes through religious places like in Hargobindpur,Goindwal Sahib,Khadoor Shib,Sultanpur Lodhi and River Beas.
* A team of Punjab legislators has found that nearly 30-km area around four distilleries has become highly polluted and contains huge amounts of alcohol
* The units have been discharging untreated effluents in water channels and soil,causing not just air pollution but destruction of aquatic life as well