Ponty Chadha-owned AB Sugars raided by pollution control board
As the industry failed to comply with the environmental norms, bank guarantee of ₹20 lakh submitted by it has been encashed.
SANDEEP BAHL , senior environmental engineer
As per directions of PPCB, we have installed recovery boiler worth ₹20 crore, MEE plant, RO plant and water treatment plant.
DESH RAJ THAKUR, senior manager of AB Sugars distillery
HOSHIARPUR : In a crackdown on AB Sugars Limited’s mill and distillery division in Dasuya’s Randhawa village, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) closed down the bio-composting process and sealed the bio methanisation tanks containing spent wash. The firm is run by late liquor baron Ponty Chadha’s family.
In view of public complaints from adjoining areas regarding health hazards being created by the effluents, the PPCB teams headed by senior environmental engineer Sandeep Bahl made a surprise visit to the distillery which discharges about 480 kilo litre of effluents daily.
Bahl said the PPCB chairman had given the industry a hearing and ordered it to stop preparing bio compost from spent wash as it produces unbearable foul odour and invites flies. “As the industry failed to comply with the environmental norms, bank guarantee of ₹20 lakh submitted by it has been encashed, out of which, ₹10 lakh will be used for the welfare of residents residing in the nearby villages,” he informed.
He revealed that during inspection, the pipelines containing spent wash were dismantled on the spot to ensure that no storage could be done in the lagoon for the purpose of bio compost. The machinery including pumps and motors used to lift spent wash from lagoon for preparing bio compost was also removed, he claimed.
The bio-methanisation tanks where spent wash to the tune of 14,000 cubic metre had been stored by the industry were also sealed, Bahl said. “The management has been directed to remove the remaining bio compost and press mud from the yard immediately,” he added.
Meanwhile, Desh Raj Thakur, senior manager of AB Sugars distillery division said, “As per directions of PPCB, we have installed recovery boiler worth ₹20 crore, MEE plant, RO plant and water treatment plant. We are burning distillery spent in recovery boiler and now it is not going to the lagoon. We are also lifting bio-compost from our yard. The PPCB team has showed satisfaction over these steps taken.”