Mansurwal, Punjab: Nestled between paddy fields and an expansive manufacturing factory, on a small village road, farmers from Mansurwal village in Zira tehsil, Ferozepur, and its adjoining regions in Punjab have been protesting for over five months against Malbros International Limited, an alcohol manufacturing plant.
Their main grievances are the factory’s allegedly debilitating effects on their groundwater, soil and quality of life. The Punjab and Haryana High Court is due to hear the matter Friday.
On a plot adjacent to the alcohol unit, the brown topsoil has been replaced by a covering of mushy and black substance. The farmers allege that the black cover is fly ash and argue that it is a pollutant being discharged from the plant.
Speaking to ThePrint, Kuldeep Singh, one of the protest organisers from the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), says, “Since our protests started in July, three people of the village have died due to cancer. One of them died yesterday.”
He cites contaminated soil and water in the village as one of the main reasons for the spread of the lethal disease. “The discharge from the plant has made the soil black here. The fly ash from here is then swept up by the wind and contaminates the soil elsewhere, leading to many people falling sick and cattle dying after consuming it.”
The protests were triggered by the alleged contamination of water in a borewell next to a gurudwara in the neighbouring village of Mahian Wala Kalan. The locals declared the water unfit for drinking.
‘Water may look clean, but unfit for consumption’
Near the gurudwara, farmers say that while the water may look relatively clean and clear as the factory has not been operating, it is still very unhealthy and undrinkable.
“This water is not fit for consumption. We can use it for washing and nothing more,” says Lovepreet Singh, who works at the gurudwara.
“People usually fall very sick after drinking this water. We have had to put a filter in the borewell; even then, it’s unfit for consumption,” adds Mohinder Singh, another resident of Mahian Wala village.
The residents of Mahian Wala Kalan say they’ve asked the management of the plant to drink the water with them on multiple occasions; they haven’t been taken up on the offer. The management knows very well that the water is unfit for consumption, the farmers claim.
Bhajan Singh, an elderly resident, says, “We were told to put some capsules in the tanks and borewells to make the water fit for consumption. However, we did not do it, as there was no clarity on who authorised the use of such capsules.”
In March this year, farmers alleged that more than 70 cattle had died due to the discharge from the plant. As a consequence, Malbros International Ltd compensated the farmers for the deaths, the protesters claim.
“They only compensated us because they were guilty. Why else would they compensate us,” asks Sukhjit Singh, a resident of Mansurwal.
ThePrint tried to reach the management of Malbros International Ltd over the telephone but there was no response.
‘Protest for Punjab’
At the protest’s centre stage, union leaders now say, “This is not just a protest for the village. It is now a protest for Punjab.”
Sloganeering against “crony capitalism” and big business resonates through the makeshift tents that surround the centre stage. The farmers speak against the “corporatisation of their livelihood and way of living”.
Charanjit Singh, a leader from the BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), says, “Since the plant started increasing its production this year, the contamination of groundwater and soil started to rapidly increase.”
However, according to sources in the local administration, excessive use of urea in the fields has also been a substantial cause of degradation in the quality of crops.
Protesting farmers also claim their crop productivity has decreased since production increased at the plant this year. The quality of their harvest has also deteriorated and crops have withered due to poor nutrients, they say.
Kuldeep Singh alleges that the factory management has destroyed 40 acres of forest area near the plant.
“We are waiting for the court judgment on 23 December. We hope it will assuage our concerns. We will not move till our problems are solved,” says Charanjit Singh.
The protesters clashed with the police deployed at the site Wednesday, which resulted in six jawans being injured, says Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kanwardeep Singh.
“The situation is currently under control. We have ensured adequate deployment of forces. Currently, there are 2,500 jawans deployed in shifts to maintain peace,” she adds.
Security is a cause for concern as the scale of the protest is increasing every day with farmers from across the state joining the agitation, says the SSP.
According to sources in the local administration, the Punjab government is also looking at establishing four or five committees to reinvestigate the matter and find a solution.
(Edited by Geethalakshmi Ramanathan)
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