Buddha Nullah: PPCB failed to act against dyeing units, says PAC

Time of India

10-07-2025

Ludhiana: In a strong statement issued on Thursday, members of the Public Action Committee (PAC) have accused the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) of repeatedly colluding with dyeing industries of Ludhiana to shield them from legal accountability for continuous discharge of untreated effluents from their respective common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) into the Buddha Nullah.
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Members of the PAC Kuldeep Singh Khaira and Jaskirat Singh said following appeals filed by the dyeing industries against the PPCB orders to stop CETPs, they had submitted three separate applications before the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal, in response, directed the PPCB to act in accordance with environmental clearance (EC) conditions and to stop effluents in the Buddha Nullah.
"Initially, the dyeing industries and the government claimed they did not understand NGT orders.
Then the industry blamed the Punjab government for failing to construct lower Buddha Nullah. They later shifted their stance, claiming that environmental clearance was no longer required after a 2018 Central government notification. Shockingly, the PPCB supported such shifting interpretations and kept changing lawyers to waste time and continue illegal discharge into the Buddha Nullah.
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Other members of the PAC Dr Amandeep Singh Bains, Kapil Arora, and Gurpreet Singh said the city had been declared one of the critically polluted cities in India by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, any dyeing industry within 5km of a critically polluted area must obtain an EC before receiving even a "consent to establish" from the sate pollution board.
All three special purpose vehicles (SPVs) managing CETPs had already received grants based on EC conditions outlined in 2013, and over 50% of the construction was completed before 2018. Interestingly, CETP directors themselves admitted in their own recent press release that the NGT issued closure orders to their plants.
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On December 23, 2024, the PPCB informed the tribunal that compliance was achieved, a claim PAC called misleading and factually incorrect. Based on the contradictory statements from the dyeing industries and ground realities, contempt petitions have been filed against the member secretary and chief engineer of the PPCB, along with directors of 40MLD and 50MLD CETPs.
The PAC members also alleged that the PPCB, despite being fully aware of legal and environmental violations, had permitted ongoing contamination of the Buddha Nullah since the CETPs became operational.
Even after NGT directives, the PPCB remains a mute spectator. Although criminal cases were filed against CETP directors, PPCB deliberately omitted full addresses in court complaints, making it impossible for courts to deliver summons.
Despite being informed, PPCB failed to rectify the error, which PAC claims was a deliberate attempt to protect the violators.
"This clearly shows that the PPCB is acting like a puppet regulatory body, shielding polluters rather than protecting public health," said the PAC. They added that the Punjab government itself was unwilling to act against the violators. Even after assuring the NGT that a compliance report would be submitted by March 20, 2025, no such report has been filed till date, they added.