Trial begins, Gurdaspur court sends notice to Chadha mill

Of ₹5 crore penalty, pollution control board collects ₹1 cr

AMRITSAR: The trial against Chadha Sugar Industries Private Limited has begun at a Gurdaspur court for spilling molasses in Beas river and causing widespread destruction of aquatic life.

Fine of ₹1 crore has also been collected from the Gurdaspurbased sugar mill.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) had on May 24 decided to impose a fine of ₹5 crore and initiate criminal proceedings against Chadha sugar mill for spill of molasses into Beas on May 17 that killed hundreds of fish and contaminated water for several kilometres, including in canals.

“The fine will be used to restore the ecological balance of the river system,” the then PPCB chairperson Kahan Singh Pannu had said.

However, the board took around one-and-half month to file criminal complaint against mill.

“The complaint was filed on July 5 in the court of chief judicial magistrate of Gurdaspur under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, against the factory and three senior office-bearers,” said Harbir Singh, a senior environmental engineer at regional office in Amritsar.

“The court has issued notices to all the persons concerned and the factory against whom the case has been filed and the next date of hearing is August 9,” he added.

Satwinder Singh Marwaha, who assumed charge as the PPCB chairperson on July 21, said the mill has already paid ₹1 crore.

The court has issued notices to persons concerned and the factory against whom the case has been filed. The next hearing is on August 9. HARBIR SINGH, environmental engineer, regional office, Amritsar

“Of the fine received, ₹25 lakh has been transferred to forest and wildlife department for the revival of the ecosystem. A portion of the amount has also been given to department of fisheries,” Harbir said.

PROCEEDINGS IN BATALA COURT

Meanwhile, district forest officer of Pathankot range, Rajesh Mahajan, said a Batala court had summoned a senior office-bearer in the management of the mill on August 7. The legal proceedings are underway in this court on the complaint lodged by the department of forest and wildlife department under the Wildlife Protection Act on May 21.

Punjab environment minister had even suspended two senior officials of the PPCB in the case earlier.

Punjab chief wildlife warden Kuldip Kumar had claimed that the entire ecosystem of the Beas, which was affected due to molasses leakage, would take a few years to recover. “It is not that ecosystem in river will get restored in a few months with the kind of catastrophe we have witnessed,” he had said.