| File Note: |
Subject: Proceedings of the personal hearing given before the Chairperson of the Board on 06.03.2026 w.r.t notice u/s 31-A of Air Act, 1981 alongwith show cause notice for refusal of consent under the Water Act, 1974 & Air Act, 1981 and show cause notice for violation of provisions of the HWM Rules, 2016 - M/s Sajjan Precision Castings, Village - Dharaur, Sahnewal Dehlon Road, Ludhiana.
The following were present:
On behalf of Punjab Pollution Control Board -
1. Dr. Lavneet Dubey, Member Secretary
2. Er. R.K. Ratra, Chief Environmental Engineer, Ludhiana
3. Er. Vijay Kumar, Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-1, Ludhiana
On behalf of industry:
Sh. Rahul Kumar, CFO
Sh. Kartik Singla, representative
The Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-1, Ludhiana brought out that the industry is a large scale red category unit and was granted consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 expired on 31.03.2023 and under Air Act, 1981 expired on 31.03.2025 for manufacturing of products Stainless Steel Products @ 8 MTPD by using Nickel @ 0.133 MTPD, Manganese @ 0.009 MTPD, Silicon @ 0.004 MTPD, Chrome @ 0.220 MTPD.
The industry was granted authorization under Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules, 2016 valid upto 31.03.2027 for hazardous waste of category 35.1 @ 0.025 TPA, 5.1 @ 0.07 KLA.
The industry was visited by officer of the Board on 23.10.2023 and found it non-complying with the environmental laws.
The industry was issued notice u/s 33-A of the Water Act, 1974 and show cause notice for revocation/cancellation of consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 as well as notice for imposition of EC alongwith show cause notice for revocation of authorization granted under the Hazardous and other Waste Rules, 2016 with hearing before Chairman of the Board on 27.03.2024, wherein it was decided as under:
1. The industry shall ensure that all its pollution control devices are operated regularly and efficiently so as to achieve the prescribed standards.
2. The industry shall commission its STP within one month and shall ensure that treated effluent is discharged onto land for plantation.
3. The industry shall make within a month all compliances w.r.t. violations reported.
4. The industry shall not carry out any expansion at site without obtaining prior NOC of the Board.
5. The industry shall submit a Bank Guarantee of Rs. 10 lacs, within 15 days, as an assurance to comply with the provisions of the Water Act, 1974, Air Act, 1981 and Hazardous and other Waste Rules, 2016, out of which Bank Guarantee of Rs. 05 lacs be encashed.
6. The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office-2, Ludhiana shall verify the submission made by industry and process consent / authorization applications, accordingly. He shall also check / comment that whether the industry is covered under the provisions of EIA notification.
To verify the compliances, the industry was visited by officer of the Board on 06/02/2025 and it was observed as under:
1. The industry was in operation during visit and it has installed 8 Induction furnaces of various capacities as under: (a) Induction furnaces @ 350 Kg/Heat (1 No.), 300 Kg/Heat (3 Nos.), 650 Kg/heat (1 No.) with common APCD and common Stack. (b) Induction furnaces @ 150 Kg/heat (2Nos.) and 200 kg/heat (1 No.) having common APCD and common stack.
2. Both the APCDs were found in operation and the industry was following SOPs prepared by the Board for induction furnace units.
3. It has provided proper sampling arrangements with both the stacks.
4. The industry has installed water meter on its submersible pump.
5. It has now provided adequate stack heights with D.G. Sets.
6. The Hazardous Waste storage room provided by the industry was found adequate with impervious floor and lock & key arrangements. It has stored APCD dust in HDPE bags and maintaining record of the same.
7. It has improved housekeeping in the entire industrial premises.
8. The industry has installed STP for treatment of domestic effluent. STP was in operation and samples from the outlet were collected during visit. As per analysis report, pH is reported as 8.0 against the prescribed standards of 5.5-9.0, TSS is reported as 10 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 200 mg/ltr, TDS is reported as 617 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 2100 mg/ltr, COD is reported as 60 mg/ltr, BOD is reported as 14 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 100 mg/ltr and O&G is reported as BDL against the prescribed standards of 100 mg/ltr. All the parameters are within prescribed standards.
9. The industry has stopped expansion activities at site. It has assured to obtain prior NOC of the Board.
10. The industry is not required to obtain Environmental Clearance under EIA Notification, 2006 as its production capacity is less than 60000 Ton/annum.
11. The industry has developed Guru Nanak Bagichi in its industrial premises.
12. The industry has not submitted the bank guarantee of Rs. 10.00 Lacs till date in this office.
The industry was surprisingly visited by the officers of the board on 15.12.2025 and it was observed as under:-
1. The industry was in operation during visit and engaged in the process of casting of pieces (stainless steel).
2. The industry has not provided hoods at each crucible being operated.
3. The industry has installed various shot blasting machines without proper APCD and stacks.
4. The hazardous waste generation in the process is very less. However, the door of the hazardous waste room was open during visit.
5. The air emission sampling could not be conducted due to absence of any visible emissions, as the heat was near completion, as well as late evening hours. Moreover, the industry was using clean scrap/ingots of stainless steel as raw material for casting.
6. The industry has installed STP of capacity 50 KLD, which was not in operation initially and was made operational during the visit.
7. The sample from outlet of STP was collected during the visit and as per analysis report of effluents collected from the outlet of the STP of the industry, pH is reported as 8.1 against the prescribed standards of 6.5-8.5, TSS is reported as 26 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 100 mg/ltr, TDS is reported as 1104 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 2100 mg/ltr, COD is reported as 84 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 250 mg/ltr, BOD is reported as 20 mg/ltr against the prescribed standards of 30 mg/ltr and O&G is reported as BDL against the prescribed standards of 10 mg/ltr. All the parameters are within prescribed standards. The treated effluent is discharged in plantation area.
8. The industry has installed 2 DG sets of capacity 320 KVA & 380 KVA each with canopy & adequate stack height.
9. The industry has not properly maintained the record of hazardous waste.
The industry is not complying with the provisions of Water Act, 1974 & Air Act, 1981 and Hazardous Waste Management Rules.
The industry has now applied for varied consent to operate under Water Act, 1974 & Air Act, 1981 for manufacturing of products Auto Parts and Engineering Goods Items @ 8 MTPD by using SS Scrap @ 8.7 MTPD, Chrome @ 0.330 MTPD, Manganese @ 0.012 MTPD, Silicon @ 0.020 MTPD, Nickel @ 0.230 MTPD.
The industry has not submitted the bank guarantee of Rs. 10.00 Lacs till date. The industry is not complying with decisions of above said personal hearing dated 27.03.2024.
In view of above, the industry has been issued Notice u/s 31-A of Air Act, 1981 alongwith show cause notice for refusal of consent under the Water Act, 1974 & Air Act, 1981 as well as show cause notice for violation of provisions of the HWM Rules, 2016 with hearing before the Chairperson of the Board on 06.03.2026.
Sh. Rahul Kumar, CFO and Sh. Kartik Singla, representative from the industry attended the hearing and submitted written reply which has been taken on the record. The representative informed to the chair that the industry has now installed proper hoods at each crucible and connected them to the existing system to ensure effective capture of emissions. The industry has now installed bag filters along with stacks for the shot blasting machines to control particulate emissions. The hazardous waste storage room is provided with impervious flooring and lock & key arrangement. Necessary instructions have now been issued to the concerned staff to ensure that the hazardous waste room remains properly closed at all times except during waste handling.
He further submitted that the installed STP capacity (50 KLD) is higher than the domestic wastewater generation, therefore continuous loading is not always available. However, the industry is optimizing the STP operation and ensuring continuous aeration to maintain microbial activity and the STP is being operated and maintained properly. The industry has now updated and properly maintained the records of hazardous waste generation, storage and disposal in the prescribed format. All records are being maintained regularly. The industry had made many prayers to the concerned requesting waiver of the Bank Guarantee etc considering the environmental compliance measures already implemented by the unit. Abiding by the instructions of the Board the industry has submitted the Bank Guarantee of ₹5,00,000 (Rupees Five Lakhs ). He further requested to drop the show cause notice and waive off the rest amount of Bank Guarantee.
After hearing the industry, officers of the Board and considering material facts on record, the Chairperson of the Board decided as under:
1. The industry shall operate its STP regularly and efficiently so as to achieve the prescribed standards of the Board and maintain the record to ensure its regular operation.
2. The industry shall maintain adequate plantation area for disposal of domestic effluent after treatment through STP.
3. The industry shall install appropriate Air Pollution Control Devices (APCDs) with adequate stack heights with its furnaces/ shot blasting machines/ grinders, within 01 month.
4. The industry shall maintain record regarding generation and lifting of hazardous waste of all the categories and shall comply with the provisions of the Hazardous and other Waste (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 in true letter & spirit for all the times.
5. The industry shall submit remaining Bank Guarantee amounting to Rs. 5.0 lacs within 07 days as already imposed during the hearing held before Chairman of the Board on 27.03.2024.
6. Environmental Engineer, Regional Office-2, Ludhiana shall encash the Bank Guarantee amounting to Rs. 05 lacs in compliance of decision of hearing held before Chairman of the Board on 27.03.2024 and shall submit its recommendations to decide the consent applications.
Submitted for confirmation of decisions of the hearing and for conveying to the industry and Regional Office as well as to include the industry to be visited surprisingly by a team of officers of the Board (as per order no. 55 dated 18.02.2026 for monitoring of 17 categories and large red category units) visit the industry to verify submissions made by the industry during the hearing, carry out air emission sampling, verify the compliance of above said decisions and various environmental laws and send report alongwith recommendations after one month, please. |
