PPCB ‘failed to enforce laws’: Seechewal says points raised by him at meetings not included in records

[GlobalSikhNews]

Jalandhar, November 11

Taking on the administration of the Punjab Pollution Control Board ( PPCB), environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal said today that the board was not serious about tackling the problem of pollution in the state. He is also a member of the board.

Talking to The Tribune at his headquarters at Sultanpur Lodhi, Sant Seechewal said the board had failed to enforce various laws related to the checking of air and water pollution in the state, adding that the board was answerable to the people of the state with regard to the deteriorating scenario on the environmental pollution front.

The board should act against those industries that were resorting to air and water pollution in spite of repeated warnings. “ I am all for industrial development in the state but it should not be at the cost of lives of the people,” said Seechewal.

“There is no use of development that adversely affects the lives of people,” he said.

“By resorting to pollution, some industries were violating human rights of the people and posing danger to their lives. The board must act against such industries,” he added. He further said after his becoming the member, the board authorities had been made to discuss some important issues related to pollution in the state.

“Earlier, board meetings used to be more about non-pollution issues”, he said. He said some of the functionaries of the board had been playing clever with him.

“The points raised by me in some of the meetings were not included in the proceedings of such meetings,” he said.

“When I came to know about it, I started recording the proceedings of the meetings at my own level and started pointing out about deficiencies in the writing of the proceedings,” he said.

He said the Board authorities were told not to confirm the proceedings of 148th meeting till the issues raised by him were not made part of it.

He said while people in many parts of the state were dying because of the high-level air and water pollution, the board should make sincere efforts to stop such a phenomenon.

He said it was constitutional responsibility of the board to check the growing menace of pollution in the state.

“I pointed out that on testing the samples of Kali Bein and Kala Sanghian drain, the water of Kali Bein was found to be of “ A” category while of Kala Sanghian drain, it was of “D” category. That means the board did not make efforts to stop the draining of filth and toxic waste into the Kala Sanghian drain.

Source: Tribune News Service