Gandhinagar, Feb 20 (PTI) Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar displayed a bottle that he claimed contained contaminated water during Question Hour of the Gujarat assembly on Friday, leading to a rebuke from speaker Shankar Chaudhary who asked him to refrain from repeating such acts.
Parmar was also criticised by state agriculture minister Jitu Vaghani.
The incident took place after Congress Legislative Party leader Tushar Chaudhary sought details from the government regarding alleged chemical contamination of groundwater around the waste processing site of Maurya Enviro Projects at Jamiyatpura in Mahisagar district.
Responding on behalf of the government, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Pravin Mali informed the House that five complaints had been received in 2024 and 2025 regarding alleged contamination of wells in the surrounding areas.
He said inspections were carried out on multiple occasions and groundwater samples were collected from within the premises of the unit as well as nearby villages. Mali said the analysis of the samples did not indicate any widespread or permanent contamination of groundwater quality. No evidence of significant pollution was found during testing, the minister added.
Unhappy with the reply, Independent MLA from Bayad, Dhavalsinh Zala, intervened and said the dumping site was located close to his constituency and that local residents had made numerous complaints to authorities about pollution caused by it.
Zala told the House that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had earlier directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to shut down the site, but alleged that no action had followed.
As the minister reiterated that there was no water pollution in the area, Parmar stood up and took out a small bottle filled with brown-coloured liquid and showed it to the speaker claiming it contained water collected from a well near the dumping site a few days ago.
Parmar said the bottle was proof that contrary to government’s claims, the groundwater in the area was contaminated and that local residents and farmers were being affected. He said his intention was to demonstrate the ground reality in the affected villages.
The act triggered strong objection from the speaker, who expressed displeasure over the display of the bottle inside the House.
On behalf of the government, Jitu Vaghani also raised an objection and urged the speaker to give an appropriate ruling on the matter.
In his ruling Chaudhary asked Parmar to refrain from doing such acts in the future.
“You very well know that members are not allowed to bring such objects inside the House and show it in such a manner. I don’t want to take strict action for this. And, who knows that it was only water in the bottle? Such an act can endanger other members’ lives if something else is brought in this manner,” Chaudhary said.
He directed the Assembly sergeant to take the bottle away from Parmar and cautioned members against repeating such conduct.
“It is important to see that such things do not happen again in the future and I specifically ask Parmar to refrain from such acts in the future,” the speaker added.
Parmar, however, said his only intention was to prove that groundwater near the dumping site was indeed contaminated.
He maintained that the water had been collected from a well situated close to the site and that villagers had been raising concerns for a long time. PTI PJT PD BNM
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