Chandigarh: Hundreds of villagers in Punjab’s Ferozepur district have been holding a permanent sit-in protest, or a pucca dharna, outside a liquor factory in Mansurwal village for the past five months. Alleging that the factory is polluting the air, water and soil of nearby villages, the protesters are demanding its permanent closure.
Things came to a head this week when the district administration tried to shift the protesters from outside the factory’s main gate in compliance with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The protest had started on 24 July leading to the closure of the factory, forcing the management to approach the high court in October. Spread across over 36 acres, the factory is owned by liquor baron and former Akali Dal MLA Deep Malhotra. Its first unit was set up in 2006 as a grain-based distillery with a capacity of 100 kilo litres per day (KLD) while an expansion unit began functioning in February.
In October, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided two of Malhotra’s premises in connection with an investigation into the Delhi excise policy, it registered a case of money laundering after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case.
How it started
In 2015-16, Malhotra, then the sitting MLA from Faridkot, proposed expanding the factory and setting up two more units of grain-based distillery of 250 KLD each in two phases. These were proposed to be set up on the principle of zero effluent discharge wherein the entire effluent is treated and reused in industrial operations. The public hearing for the setting up of enhanced capacity units was held in May 2016. A copy of the proposal and public hearing documents are with ThePrint.
For the enhanced capacity units, Malhotra’s Malbros International Private Limited got its environment clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in January 2018. It was issued the final no-objection certificates from the Punjab Pollution Control Board in November last year for grain-based distillation with 280 KLD capacity. One of the by-products of the process was animal/ poultry feed.
The factory started working on an increased capacity in February. Copies of the environment clearance certificate to the industry as also the clearance given by the Punjab Pollution Control Board are with ThePrint.
Trouble brewing
The factory first ran into trouble in March when more than 50 cattle owned by farmers of nearby villages died of an unknown disease. The farmers alleged that the cattle was poisoned as their fodder got mixed with the black ash in the air emanating from the factory. “After the residents raised a hue and cry, the factory monetarily compensated the farmers who had lost their cattle to the disease,” said Sukhjinder Singh Khosa, one of the leaders of the protest.
Then in July, during the digging of a tubewell in Gurdwara Smadh Bhagat Dhuni Chand in village Mahian Wala Kalan, the villagers noticed brackish water at around 650 feet.
They complained to the Punjab Pollution Control Board on 18 July following which a team of the board along with the Zira tehsildar went to the Gurdwara to collect samples of groundwater. Apart from Mahian Wala Kalan, samples were also collected from the neighbouring villages of Ratoul Rohi and Mansurwal. The team also collected groundwater samples from inside the factory premises and reported that all of them were free of any pollutants and fit for human consumption. A copy of the report is with ThePrint.
On 24 July, residents of Mansurwal and the neighbouring areas started a pucca dharna outside the main gate of the factory demanding its closure for causing water, air and soil pollution. They alleged that the toxic ash from the factory was causing serious diseases, including cancer, among the villagers. They also alleged that toxic ash from the factory was being dumped by the factory management on a nearby plot which was illegally mined up to 40 ft for the purpose.
They further alleged that the factory was involved in reverse boring and dumping polluted effluent into the soil. They added that the groundwater too was contaminated and was non-potable. The protesters gathered water samples from various borewells and hung them in bottles around the protest site.
Since its main gate was blocked and the protesters were not allowing anybody to go inside, the factory was shut down.
Owners move court, protesters to NGT
The owners then moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding the opening of the factory. On 29 July, the high court ordered that the protest be shifted 300 m from the factory gates to allow for free movement. However, the protesters refused to comply with the high court orders, demanding that first the factory be sealed.
On 18 August, the gram panchayat of the neighbouring village of Rataul Rohi complained about the factory to the Punjab monitoring committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The NGT panel, headed by Justice Jasbir Singh, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, with members SC Aggarwal, a former Punjab chief secretary, and water conservationist Balbir Singh Seechewal started investigations into the allegation. The NGT team visited the affected villages, met the protesters and the factory management; they also gathered samples of water and soil from various places in and around the factory.
The monitoring committee submitted a report to the NGT on 21 September, giving the factory a clean chit in terms of soil, air and water pollution. However, it noted that the factory was illegally mining a nearby plot on which requisite action had been initiated and notices issued by the mining department. The NGT team also concluded that the fodder grown in the area had nitrate content and was injurious to the health of animals. A copy of the monitoring committee’s report is with ThePrint.
In a parallel move, a petition was filed by the Public Action Committee, an NGO, in August before the NGT in Delhi. Taking up the petition on 30 August, the NGT ordered the constitution of a joint committee which would include representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board, the state pollution control board, state groundwater board, and district administration to submit a report.
This joint committee, headed by Sagar Setia, ADC Ferozepur, met on 7 October and concluded that since the matter was being investigated by the NGT monitoring committee, it would serve no purpose to hold a parallel enquiry. However, it put together a status report which included the various clean chits (given to the factory) and submitted it to the NGT on 21 October. A copy of the status report is with ThePrint.
During the next hearing in the NGT on 8 December, the NGO moved an application demanding a change in the constitution of the joint committee which it said should include experts from outside the state. The NGT, however, ordered the submission of a detailed report on the matter from the Punjab Pollution Control Board, the Central Pollution Control Board, principal secretary, Industries, Punjab, and the factory management within two months. The case will now come before hearing on 23 February.
Even while the proceedings of the case were going on in the NGT, Justice Vinod Bhardwaj of the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave a series of orders on the petition filed by the factory owner.
On 11 October, the high court noted that the factory lost over Rs 13 crore since its closure in July and despite its orders, the Punjab government was unable to shift the protesters and get the factory restarted. Justice Bhardwaj said, “It seems that the state has been soft-pedalling the issue. Despite the repeated assurances given and strenuous efforts made by the Advocate General, Punjab, it does not seem to be making any headway despite the petitioners agitating and suffering immense losses including the pecuniary burden of having to meet the financial liability.”
The court ordered the Punjab government to deposit Rs 5 crore in the Registry.
Protesters unyielding
Following the rap from the court, the district administration made multiple efforts to negotiate with the protesters but they refused to relent. They alleged that the interpretation of the reports submitted by teams of the Punjab Pollution Control Board and NGT’s monitoring committee was faulty and a deeper probe was needed. “The samples could have been changed and results misinterpreted,” claims Khosa.
During the next hearing on 22 November, the high court insisted that the Punjab government ensure that the factory is made functional, failing which senior officers would be hauled up for contempt.
The state government was asked to pay up another Rs 15 crore to the high court registry as compensation for the factory’s losses. The court also asked it to submit names of those leading the protest along with their property details. “It is time that the authorities set in place an appropriate mechanism so that the violators causing damage to public or private properties feel the heat and learn to protest with responsibility and are held accountable for the consequences of their actions,” read the court order.
But protesters are unmoved. “We challenge anyone from the high court, the NGT, the Punjab Pollution Control Board, the district administration, and the Punjab cabinet to live in this village for a month and drink this water. We have no problem if the government puts us in jail or takes away all our property, but we will not allow our generations to die of horrible diseases while growing up in this village,” says Khosa.
Ahead of the next date of court hearing on 20 December, the district administration brought in a huge number of policemen into the village to try and shift the protesters by force. The move led to the protesters getting support from across Punjab from Bharatiya Kisan Unions and other farmer bodies with crowds swelling at the protest site under the aegis of Zira Sanjha Morcha.
For three consecutive days starting 18 December, the police and the demonstrators clashed at the protest site.
During the resumed hearing on 20 December, the government told the high court that it had managed to clear one gate of the factory which would soon resume operations as the staff could enter the premises.
However, Justice Vinod Bhardwaj insisted on taking punitive action against the protesters. The court has now given two days to the counsels of the protesters to persuade them to vacate the area while agreeing to get a deeper investigation conducted into their allegations. The matter now comes up for hearing on December 23.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also Read: Punjab liquor plant stir: HC agrees to fresh probe on 1 condition — protesters must leave first