With toxic waste aplenty, Ludhiana stuck circling the drain

The probe into the April 30 gas leak incident, wherein 11 people including three children died the most tragic death after being engulfed by the toxic hydrogen sulphide that leaked out from a manhole in Giaspura, is still underway.

And while there’s no telling as to what caused the formation of the gas in such a huge quantity just yet, the incident has once again highlighted the industrial town’s long-standing problem of disposal of chemical effluent and the challenges faced by respective governments in dealing with the same.

‘Manchester of India’, for better or for worse

Rapid industrialisation over the years has earned the city, for better or for worse, the label of “Manchester of India”. Today, Ludhiana is home to about 95,000 micro, small and medium industrial units (SMEs) and approximately 250 large scale units.

As the bicycle and hosiery industry has witnessed an enormous growth in the city, ancillary units like bicycle parts and dyeing units have loomed in large numbers.

With the spurt has come its pitfalls. As per figures, as many as 20,000 such units make for major water polluting industries — comprising mainly hosiery, dyeing, electroplating, dairy, units and a small section of miscellaneous industry that includes breweries, beverages, service stations etc also come under the ambit of polluting industries.

Playing catch-up with effluents disposal

The city has four common effluent treatment plants (CETP)’s for management of wastewater coming from dyeing and electroplating industries. Aimed at reducing land cost for small-scale industrial facilities that cannot afford individual treatment centres, the CETPs are managed by the Punjab Dyers Association under close supervision of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

While three of the plants cater to collecting effluent discharge from dyeing units, one handles the discharge emanating from electroplating units. After treatment, the water is hence discharged into the Buddha Nullah.

The plant located at Bahadur ke road has a capacity of treating 15 million litres daily (MLD) of effluent and is connected to 30 dyeing units. Others at Focal point and Tajpur road process 40 and 50 MLD discharge from 63 and 102 dyeing units, respectively. The fourth, operated by JBR Technology at Focal point, has a capacity of 0.5 MLD and caters to 1,746 electroplating units.

Besides, 12 large-scale dyeing units in the city have installed their own treatment plants and treat 17 MLD of wastewater.

And yet, 54 dyeing units, which could not join the CETPs, are discharging about 25 MLD of wastewater into municipal sewer and in turn into the Buddha Nullah, PPCB data revealed.

As per the figures, miscellaneous industries like milk plants, garment washing units, breweries, beverages and service stations produce 6 MLD of wastewater and have installed their captive effluent treatment plants.

Challenges galore

A number of industrialists dealing with the work of electroplating have highlighted inadequacy of a solitary CETP to handle the industry discharge.

“Dyeing units, far less in number, have three CETPs, but for almost 1,800 registered electroplating units in Ludhiana there is just one plant. The company (JBR technologies) enjoys a monopoly and issues excess charges. For treatment of every one litre water discharge, we are paying ₹1.5, while the rate in other states is just ₹0.5 per litre. We also have to bear the cost of transporting the waste to the plant. To escape these charges, many units discharge waste in MC’s sewer in absence of regular checks by PPCB,” an industrialist, requesting anonymity, said.

The industrialist added that industry is beginning to move out of the state in view of the excess charges.

“Even for those units who wish to operate their own effluent treatment plants (ETP), the permissions are not easily granted by PPCB. This is the main reason why no new industry is willing to invest in the state,” the industrialist added.

PPCB a toothless tiger?

Treatment of effluent waste continues to be an uphill task for the state government and PPCB, which has been issuing notices and levying penalties on units and CETPs for failing to comply with the norms.

PPCB chairperson Adarsh Pal Vig says they conduct regular checks and plants found lacking the requisite standards are slapped with penalties and notices. “Not meeting the requisite standards means discharging polluted waste into the Buddha Nullah,” he said.

Highlighting India as a developing nation, Vig noted that industry or plants cannot be shut completely. “There is a formula on which we issue penalties to the units and this is an ongoing process,” he says, adding that even penalising a unit draws ire for the regulatory body, which is often condemned for not letting the industry function.

In 2021, the PPCB had imposed an environmental compensation of ₹2.46 crore on electroplating and acid pickling units in Ludhiana.

The CETP for electroplating units operated by M/s JBR was also found violating the provisions of the Water Act, 1974, and Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules, 2016, which drew a ₹1.05-crore fine.

With a strength of just 200 across Punjab and just 50 in Ludhiana including engineers and technical staff, PPCB officials encompassing various ranks are found lacking in sheer strength. “Such a small strength cannot handle the load of 1 lakh units. Moreover, new environmental norms like checking on plastic add to the workload,” a PPCB official said.

Adding to woes, scores of small-scale industrial units – operating illegally – have come up in Ludhiana and fanned across areas including Giaspura, Janta Nagar, Shivpuri, Sundernagar, Bajwa Nagar, Focal point, Kaka-road and so on. These operate from small, dingy shops and dump the wastewater directly into the MC’s sewer.

Last year in May, the MC had disconnected illegal sewer connections of 37 such units. The same has been followed by 27 dyeing units being caught doing so in December 2022 and January 2023, but there seems to be no end to the continued dumping of toxic waste into the sewer lines.

MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal says, “The MC, on its own, as well as jointly with PPCB does random checking of sewer lines. If any irregularity is found, the sewer connection of a non-compliant unit is immediately disconnected and further penal action initiated.”

As recently as April 24 this year, the MC had caught an electroplating unit, JK International, discharging acidic waste into the lines. The firm’s connection was also snapped.

Illegal storage of chemicals is also rampant, with PPCB teams, just this month raiding a chemical godown in Giaspura to find huge quantities of chemicals.

The storage of acids requires permission from the health department under the Poison Act. However, even nine years since the Act came into force, the storage of chemicals goes on with impunity

Federation of Punjab Small Scale Industry Association (FOPSIA) president Badish Jindal says the Punjab Poisons Possession and Sales Act, 2014, is very strict in controlling the use of 104 hazardous chemicals including hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, Nickel and Zinc mandating reports even of monthly sales and stocking to concerned the ADC or SDM.

“The dealers are hardly following these rules. Even the health department and district administration do not bother about the implementation of the Act. If monitored, it is impossible for any industry to use any illegal chemical or quantity,” he said.

What goes around, comes around

All the factors combined have contributed to the alarming level of pollution in the Buddha Nullah. Despite a number of non-governmental organisations urging the government to release funds for cleaning of the nullah, little has changed.

“The industry has been polluting the Buddha Nullah with impunity. Ludhiana’s air quality is the worst, water is polluted. Heavy metals and strong acid are being used by a number of units who dump these illegally in sewers. This is a grave threat to the health of the residents and soil. Ultimately, the chemicals will come back to us through the agricultural produce and enter our bodies,” environmental activist Col (retd) JS Gill cautions.