AAP, SAD SEEK ACTION AGAINST MILL OWNERS

CHANDIGARH:The opposition parties hit out at chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday, accusing him of being “casual and callous” towards pollution in Beas and Sutlej.

Leader of opposition Sukhpal Khaira said he was alarmed to see different species of fish die in large numbers due to poisonous chemicals released by Chadha Sugar Industries Private Limited at Kiri Afgana village in Gurdaspur district. Khaira said thousands of other aquatic animals that live in the rivers too could have been endangered.

“The government has washed its hands off by sealing the said sugar mill and slapping ₹25 lakh penalty. The owners of the mill should be charged with criminal offence so that industrialists do not have the audacity to pollute our rivers,” he said. He and Jagraon MLA Sarabjit Kaur Manuke visited Balipur on the Sutlej river at Ludhiana to inspect the industrial waste flowing into the river.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too hit out at the CM saying the sugar mill is owned by the daughter of his religious adviser Paramjit Singh Sarna and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

“Callous attitude of the owners played havoc with the aquatic life in Punjab, leaving tonnes of fish dead as well as pushing some endangered species like Indus dolphins towards extinction. As the owners have links with the higher-ups in the ruling dispensation, the company was constantly defying the rules prescribed for the industry as well as brazenly flouting pollution norms,” SAD secretary general and MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said. HTC

AKALI DAL SAYS THE SUGAR MILL IS OWNED BY THE DAUGHTER OF CM’S ‘RELIGIOUS ADVISER’; DEMANDS A JUDICIAL PROBE