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Sub: Proceedings of the personal hearing given by Chairperson of the Board on 25.02.2026 w.r.t Show cause notice for revocation of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 as amended in 1988.- Mahaluxmi Processing House Pvt. Ltd., Plot no-C-231, Phase -VIII, Focal Point, Ludhiana.
The following were present:
On behalf of PPCB
Er. R.K. Ratra, CEE, Ludhiana
Er. Kuldeep Singh, SEE, ZO-2, Ludhiana
On behalf of industry
Sh. Bharat Bhushan, Director
Sh. Chetnya, Director
Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-2, Ludhiana brought out that the industry is a Medium-scale red category unit and was granted consent to operate under the Water Act,1974 vide no. CTOW/Renewal/LDH4/2025/29571205 dated 06.10.2025, expired on 31.12.2025 and under the Air Act, 1981 vide no. CTOA/Renewal/LDH4/2024/25340266 dated 26.04.2024 having validity upto 31.03.2029 for Dyeing for all type of Yarn (Polyester/PC/Cotton) @ 21 T/day with generation of trade effluent @ 2000.0 KLD disposed into the sewer after treatment through ETP and domestic effluent @ 18.0 KLD disposed into sewer, with suitable conditions mentioned below:
1. The industry will submit the progress with respect to the upgradation of ETP to ZLD technology well before the 5th of every month alongwith the photographs and expenditure details vis-à-vis the timelines given in the PERT chart.
2. The industry shall deposit environmental compensation to be calculated for the recent violations reported on 17.01.2025 by the Board.
3. The industry will ensure that production of polyester and Cotton dyeing shall be regulated as such that treated parameters specifically TDS shall remain within limits.
Now, the industry has applied for renewal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and has submitted a PERT chart for Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) implementation. The list of chart indicates that it will complete its ZLD process within 16 months’ time.
The industry was visited by the officer of the Board on 12.01.2026 and it was observed that:
1. The industry was in operation during the visit. The construction work of the ZLD system was ongoing.
2. The industry had completed the scheme finalization and vendor selection, site preparation, civil construction (phase-1), RCC tank, Screw Press, Thermic Fluid Boiler for the MEE system, 200 KL tank constructed and heat recovery system had been installed. The construction of the MBBR tank was ongoing and the construction of Main tank of 1500KL also in process.
3. The industry had installed the online continuous effluent quality monitoring system (OCEMS) and the same was working.
4. The industry had made arrangement for recovery & reuse of cooling water and steam condensate. The cooling water was reused in the process and steam condensate was being reused as boiler feed water.
5. The industry had installed physio-chemical followed by biological treatment plant for treatment of trade effluent generated from dyeing section and having components i.e. collection tank, mixer, primary tuber settler, biological tank, secondary tube settler, sand & carbon filter and sludge drying bed. The industry had made up-gradation in its ETP and its working by adding new dosing pumps, additional holding tank, new sludge press and 02 additional multi-media filters, refurbished its Multi-Grade Filter (MGF) and Activated Carbon Filter (ACF). The industry had installed automated backwash process.
6. The effluent sample was collected on 23.07.2025 and as per the analysis report received from the Zonal Lab, Ludhiana, the results are pH=7.3, TSS=15 mg/l, TDS=2085 mg/l, BOD=10 mg/l, COD=56 mg/l, O&G= BDL, Sulphides = 2.0 mg/l, Phenolic Compounds=BDL, Ammonical Nitrogen=BDL, Total Chromium =< 0.1 mg/l and SAR=8.2, which were within permissible limit prescribed by the Board.
7. The industry had submitted a B.G. of Rs. 10.0 Lakhs, which is valid upto 16.10.2026 in Board’s office.
8. The industry had submitted a request letter for Extension of its period of installation of ZLD due to Heavy Rains in the monsoon season. Earlier as per the PERT chart submitted by the industry Date of Commissioning of the ZLD was proposed as 31.12.2025.
The industry is not complying with the conditions of the consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974, earlier granted to it as it has failed to complete/ commission the ZLD by 31.12.2025..............
The matter was considered by the Competent Authority and it was decided to initiate action against the industry for refusal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 after affording an opportunity of personal hearing.....................................
Accordingly, Show cause notice for refusal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 as amended in 1988 was issued to the industry with an opportunity of personal hearing before the Chairperson of the Board on 25.02.2026. ................................
Sh. Bharat Bhushan and Sh. Chetnya, Directors on behalf of the industry attended the hearing and submitted a written reply which was taken on record. They stated that the industry has been continuously proceeding with the upgradation of its effluent treatment infrastructure as per directions of the Board and has made substantial progress in this regard and vide a letter dated 19.12.2025, addressed to the Regional Office, Ludhiana, the industry had already informed about the delay in installation activities due to excessive monsoon rains and foundation settlement of one of the newly constructed tanks. As also recorded during the visit dated 12.01.2026 of the Board, the various works were completed or in progress, such as finalization of scheme and vendor selection, civil construction including RCC tanks, installation of screw press and thermic fluid boiler for evaporation system, installation of heat recovery arrangements, installation and operation of OCEMS, strengthening of the existing ETP with additional pumps, holding tank, sludge press and filtration units. Further, mentioned that the only reason for delay in completion of the remaining installation activities was exceptionally heavy and continuous rainfall during the monsoon season, which resulted in foundation settlement of one of the newly constructed tanks and for structural safety and long-term stability, the affected structure had to be dismantled and reconstructed, thereby shifting the implementation schedule. Further stated that the delay occurred due to circumstances beyond the control and not due to any wilful non-compliance and due to the above civil setback, the revised timeline for completion of the remaining installation works has shifted to 31st March 2026. Also, the Effluent samples drawn by the Board were found within prescribed limits. The existing effluent treatment system are operational and OCEMS is installed and functioning. In view of the substantial progress made, prior intimation to the Board, compliant sample results, and unavoidable weather-related delay, the industry requested that reasonable time up to 31.03.2026 be granted for completion of the remaining works and assured to comply with environmental norms. Further, submitted that the textile dyeing sector in Ludhiana is presently under broader review at the Government level, including deliberations by the High-Level Committee on pollution constituted by the Government of Punjab and technical evaluations involving reputed institutions such as IIT Ropar. In this evolving policy context, while the industry is proceeding with installation and upgradation of advanced effluent treatment infrastructure as directed the industry requested that the implementation framework for such requirements may kindly be applied in a uniform and consistent manner across all units in the region as a uniform approach would ensure equitable compliance conditions and sectoral stability, without affecting the ongoing environmental objectives........................
After hearing, the Directors of the industry and officers of the Board and considering the material facts of the case, the Chairperson of the Board decided as under: -......
1. The industry shall deploy all necessary resources and make every conceivable effort to compete the installation as well as commissioning of ZLD system by 31.03.2026, as committed during the hearing. The industry will be visited immediate after 31.03.2026 and progress will be reviewed in the first week of April 2026. ..........
2. The industry shall ensure that the existing ETP always remain in operative condition and shall be operated regularly and efficiently to achieve the standards prescribed by the Board for such discharge of effluent. ........
3. Environment Engineer, Regional Office-IV Ludhiana shall visit the industry immediate after 31.03.2026 and submit detailed report with respect to the progress of installation of ZLD plant by in 1st week of April, 2026 to monitor the installation work of ZLD system and shall submit recommendations in the matter, latest by 06.04.2026..........
4. The decision regarding the grant of Consent to Operate to the industry shall be taken after the visit by Regional Office-4, Ludhiana, as mentioned in Decision No. 3..................
Submitted for confirmation of decisions of the hearing and for conveying to the industry and Regional Office for compliance of above decisions, please.
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