GURDASPUR SUGAR MILL TO REOPEN
Mill was sealed by Punjab Pollution Control Board in May following the spill of molasses into Beas river that killed thousands of fish
GURDASPUR: After being sealed by Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in May following the spill of molasses into Beas river that killed thousands of fish, the Chadha Sugar Industries Private Limited at Kiri Afghana village in Gurdaspur district is likely to resume work in one or two days after a little over six months.
The Mill is owned by Delhibased Jasdeep Kaur Chadha, wife of late Hardeep Singh Chadha.
Hardeep was liquor baron Ponty Chadha’s brother. Ponty and Hardeep died in a crossfire over a property dispute in 2012.
A three-member team from PPCB led by chief engineer GS Majithia and Batala sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Rohit Gupta had conducted separate inquiries into the incident.
As per SDM Gupta’s inquiry report, the accident had been caused due to a blast in the furnace in which molasses had brought down the level of oxygen in the river leading to deaths of the fish on a large scale.
Gupta said, “The mill authorities informed me that the PPCB has issued a clearance certificate to them to resume work on Saturday.”
‘TRIAL OPERATIONS STARTED ON SATURDAY’
The SDM said that the mill started trial operations on Saturday and will be fully functional in one or two days.
The state forest and wildlife department had also prepared a report against the mill under Sections 30,32,50,51,36-A of the Wildlife Protection Act. Gurdaspur PPCB executive engineer Ravinder Bhatti could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
Few days back, the mill authorities had submitted requisite papers with the PPCB, following which the board permitted the mill to resume work.
Meanwhile, a team of the National Green Tribunal had also visited the mill a few days back and given green signal to go ahead with its operation.
The area farmers, who had also been demanding that the mill should start crushing sugarcane as they would face problems if the mill remains closed, are also relieved over its revival of operation.