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SUKHBIR CALLS IT “ECOLOGICAL MASSACRE”

-- 22 May,2018

WRITES TO UNION ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: DEMANDS ARREST OF “ OFFENDING
MILL MANAGEMENT

“DEPUTE CENTRAL TEAM TO ASSESS THE SITUATION IN PUNJAB, RAJASTHAN”

“MAN MADE TRAGEDY AUTHORED BY A RELIGIOUS ADVISOR OF CAPT”

Chandigarh May 22 – The Shiromani Akali Dal president and former
Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, S Sukhbir Singh Badal today accused the
Punjab government of “patronizing an environmental massacre in Punjab
by turning a blind eye to the massive and man-made ecological disaster
caused by the Chadha Sugar Industries and owners of the distillery.”

In a letter to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Mr Badal described the massive
pollution of river Beas water and the shocking scale of death of
aquatic life in water bodies in Punjab as “a shocking example of the
brazen insensitivity of the offending parties with active patronage
of the state government. He said that the mill is owned by highly
connected political leader who is also ‘religious advisor to the
Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh. “The grave irony of
the tragedy authored by a religious advisor of the Chief Minister is
that it has led to the contamination of the sacred Kali Bein which is
historically associated with the life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji,”
Demanding the immediate arrest of “the members of the
management and the directors of the offending Mill/distillery who are
guilty of an inter-state crime now”, Mr Badal said that they should be
proceeded against under relevant provisions of law for endangering
lives of millions of people in Punjab and Rajsthan apart from causing
a massacre of aquatic life including fish and birds. He said that the
Government of India should directly address the crisis as it has
already become a multi-state calamity.

The former Deputy CM also demanded that a central team from the
Ministry of Environment should be deputed for an on the spot study of
the situation. “That team should assess the extent of damage caused
by this calamity so far and likely to be caused in coming days and
determine the scale of compensation to be paid to the affected
people.”
The burden of this compensation should be borne by the guilty
industrialist, SAID Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal.

“The disaster is not just man made but is also at the same time an
example of the unbelievably brazen crassness and insensitivity of the
guilty parties in this regard to the cause of protection and
preservation of ecology and wild-life, with active patronage of the
state government. This environmental disaster is caused directly by
the shockingly criminal and willful defiance of all norms and laws
concerning ecology by powerful people enjoying direct patronage of the
ruling dispensation in Punjab,” said Mr Badal.

Text of the letter :

“Respected Dr. Harsh Vardhan ji,

We are deeply pained to be forced to draw your kind attention and
through you the attention of the whole nation to a man-made
environmental disaster of the most shocking magnitude in Punjab. The
disaster is not just man made but is also at the same time an example
of the unbelievably brazen crassness and insensitivity of the guilty
parties in this regard to the cause of protection and preservation of
ecology and wild-life, with active patronage of the state government.
This environmental disaster is caused directly by the shockingly
criminal and willful defiance of all norms and laws concerning ecology
by powerful people enjoying direct patronage of the ruling
dispensation in Punjab.

it all began as reports appeared in leading sections of the media
here pointing to an ecological disaster of stunning and alarming
magnitude. As a first sign, a large number of fish and aquatic
animals were found dead on the banks of the River Beas in Punjab on
Thursday, May 17,2018. As days passed, the scale of this “wild-life
slaughter” assumed the proportions of a massacre of aquatic life in
the river Beas. The tragedy was caused through the criminal negligence
of a local Sugar Mill, ‘Chadha Sugar Industries Private Limited, which
actually runs a wine distillery, located at Kiri Afgana village in
Gurdaspur district, as it released massive quantities of molasses – a
highly dangerous and toxic chemical fluid from the sugar mill – into
the canal leading up and into the river resulting in unbelievable
water contamination. Molasses or black treacle is a viscous by-product
of refining sugarcane into sugar. It has affected the entire river
stretch.
Initially, locals in Amritsar reported an unusual incident of Beas
River turning dark brown to the officials. Thousands of dead fish were
found floating along the banks of the river.
The leakage eventually led to the increase of biological oxygen demand
(BOD) in the water, resulting in fall of oxygen content. This caused
the death of fish and other water animals. Unbelievable as it may
sound, the culprit mill continued to pour the poisonous substance into
the stream without the least hitch or fear of the law.

The mill is owned by highly connected political leader who is also
‘religious advisor; to the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder
Singh. The tragic irony of the tragedy authored by the willful
defiance of law by this religious advisor is that it has led to the
contamination of the sacred Kali Bein which is historically associated
with the life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, the founder of the Sikh
religion.
This has forced noted environmental activist Balbir Singh Seechewal
to come out and warn the government against the magnitude of the
tragedy assuming even more alarming proportions.

The scale and magnitude of this environmental tragedy can gauged
from the fact that it has led to an ecological emergency in large
parts of Malwa seriously contaminating drinking water.
In fact, this has already turned into an interstate calamity.
After Beas river, a spill of molasses from the sugar mill has started
flowing into the Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind Feeder canals taking
water from it saw their water turning black. Water in these canals
comes from the Harike reservoir which too has seen the blackness from
molasses. That has also reduced the levels of oxygen in the water
posing a grave danger to all kinds of life, forest, vegetation,
aquatic life and human life.

Residents in Faridkot, from where the Sirhind Feeder passes, reported
a stench, and the district administration had to halt water supply to
the town from the canal until the situation normalises. Additional
water had to be released to dilute the effect of the molasses.
Faridkot, Muktsar and Fazilka districts get water for irrigation and
other purposes from Sirhind Feeder, while Rajasthan Feeder serves
Hanumangarh, Suratgarh and Bikaner, even up to Jaisalmer, in that
state. Further, Gang Canal is formed from the Sirhind Feeder which
serves Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan.

The release of any chemical fluid into river water is a violation of
the Water Act, 1974, and the presence of toxic chemical substances
puts animal and even human life at high risk.
The administration initially denied the leakage of the fluid
and claimed it was an accidental release. The state government has
remained virtually inactive over this development which has seriously
disturbed the ecological balance and is a serious offence which
attracts strict action.
We wish to bring this massive environmental tragedy to your notice as
this threatens the safety of the present and the future generations of
children in Punjab and even adjoining states of Rajasthan. The
extraordinary situation demands extraordinary response.

Another unfortunate part of this tragedy is that the state government
has virtually slept over this grave tragedy. None of the persons
guilty for causing this massive disaster have been proceeded against
as per the law. On the contrary, the state government has virtually
turned a blind eye to the tragedy, refusing even to stop the
distillery from inflicting further damage on the state and its people.
The Mill cum distillery in question is guilty of endangering the
lives of millions of people in Punjab and Rajsthan in what can only be
termed as a potential ‘environmental massacre’.

The issue has now become an inter-state environmental calamity. In
view of that, we request that :

a. The Government of India should directly address the crisis.

b. A central team from the Ministry of Environment should be
deputed for an on the spot study of the situation.

c. That team should also assess the extent of damage caused by
this calamity so far and likely to be caused in the days, weeks and
months to come.

d. That study should be used to determine the scale of
compensation to be paid to the affected people and regions.

e. The culprits are guilty of an inter-state crime having played
havouc with environment in Punjab and Rajsthan. They must be tried for
their culpability under appropriate provisions of law.

The management and the directors of the offending Mill/distillery
should be immediately arrested and proceeded against as per the law of
the land.
The culprits have virtually inflicted an “Ecological Emergency”
on the region and take all steps necessary to stop further worsening
of the already dire crisis need to be taken . Fighting this challenge
needs to be treated as national project.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

( SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL) President Shiromani Akali Dal

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