Zira liquor factory: ‘Give it to us in writing,’ say protesters after Mann promises to shut plant

AAP government had announced closure of liquor factory on 17 January, but written orders are yet to come. Four expert panels are looking into allegations of pollution.

Protesters outside the liquor factory in Zira tehsil | Urjita Bhardwaj | ThePrint

Chandigarh: A fortnight after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced the closure of the Malbros liquor factory in Zira tehsil, a written order backing his announcement is still awaited.

The residents of Mansurwal village, where the factory — Malbros International Private Limited — is situated, had held a permanent sit-in protest outside the unit in July last year, alleging that the factory was polluting soil, water and air in the surrounding areas.

On 17 January, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government gave in to the six-month protest and announced that the factory would be shut down immediately.

“Anyone who tries to impair the purity of Punjab’s land, air and water for their selfish measures and commercial benefits would not be spared. Be it anyone,” Mann had announced through his official Twitter handle.

Despite the closure announcement, the hundreds of protesters outside the factory, under the aegis of Zira Sanjha Morcha, are refusing to end their agitation till written orders are issued from the chief minister.

“We are requesting the chief minister to issue a written order regarding his announcement of 17 January. Since there is a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet on 3 February, we urge the CM to make this announcement a part of the cabinet agenda and get it passed,” the Zira Sanjha Morcha said in a video message issued Wednesday.

Although there is no official word on when the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is likely to issue detailed written orders regarding the closure of the factory, highly placed sources in the government told ThePrint that the CMO is awaiting a final report on the findings of four committees which were constituted to assess the alleged environmental damage caused by the factory.

Final report of panels ‘coming soon’

On December 22 last year, the Punjab government constituted four committees of experts to look into the allegations of pollution being caused by the Malbros factory.

Of the four panels, the first was tasked with assessing the possible damage being caused to human health (air pollution), the second to assess the possible damage to cattle, the third to assess the damage to crops (soil pollution) and the last to assess the pollution of water. Some of the protesters were co-opted as members of the committees.

“All four committees have completed their job of gathering samples. Three have already submitted their reports – the ones dealing with soil, human and animal health. The reports have been forwarded to the Punjab Pollution Control Board for analysis,” Rajesh Dhiman, deputy commissioner of Ferozepur (under which Zira falls), who is also the nodal officer to oversee the functioning of the committees, told ThePrint.

“The reports of water pollution are still being processed. By the next week, the findings of all panels would be collated and a final report submitted.”

The Malbros factory is owned by Deep Malhotra, who is a former Shiromani Akali Dal legislator considered close to the AAP’s Delhi leadership. Malhotra had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get the protesters removed and the factory restarted.

Following the orders of the high court, the Ferozepur administration last December tried to shift the protesters from outside the factory’s main gate. This led to clashes between the police and the villagers and, over a course of three days, the crowds swelled from hundreds to thousands, with various factions of the Bhartiya Kisan Union lending support and resources.

In January, the High Court took suo motu cognisance of the Ferozepur administration’s failure to follow its orders and issued a notice to the Punjab government.

While the next hearing is on 13 February, the main Malbros case — dealing with the question of reopening of the factory and the pollution allegedly being caused by it — will be heard on 28 February.

The high court had also ordered the state government to deposit a total of Rs 20 crore in its registry as compensation to the liquor baron for financial losses incurred due to the closure of the factory.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)