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It is submitted that the industry has been issued SCN for revocation / cancellation of consent to operate granted under the Water Act, 1974, Air Act, 1981 as well as SCN for refusal of authorization under the HWM Rules, 2016 alongwith notice for imposition of EC with hearing before the Chairperson of the Board on 30.03.2026 postponed to 09.04.2026, wherein it was decided as under:-
1. The industry shall operate all the components of the ETP regularly and efficiently including RO & MEE for the treatment of wastewater and shall ensure its ZLD status for all the times.
2. The industry shall operate only those processes, activities, machinery equipment, furnaces and other pollution generating sources and for production figures only for which last Consent to operate was granted by the Board.
3. The industry shall not undertake any processes for which directions for sealing of the Heat Treatment Plant and Phosphating Section were issued vide letter no. 2093–94 dated 26.03.2025. The industry` shall ensure that the seals are kept intact for all the times at already sealed machinery.
4. The industry shall operate its STP regularly and efficiently so as to achieve the prescribed standards of the Board.
5. The industry shall install the water meters at the pipelines carrying the wastewater to the ETP, RO permeate, RO reject and Feed to MEE. The industry shall maintain record regarding operation of ETP & STP on daily basis including record of energy meter, flow meter and chemical/ nutrients etc., within 07 days.
6. The industry shall install CCTV cameras with 30 days of backup and provision of connecting the same with PPCB Dashboard, facing towards the entry gate of the processing shed, fresh water meter installed in processing area & effluent storage tank, within 15 days. The industry shall devise a self-monitoring mechanism through CCTV cameras to ensure that no unmetered fresh water is taken for the process and no illegal disposal is made.
7. The industry shall install piezometers at the upstream and downstream of plantation area to monitor the effect of treated effluent of the industry on the quality of groundwater, within one month.
8. The industry shall, within two months, provide an overhead tank of adequate capacity for storage of trade effluent generated from the process to avoid any chance of soil and/or groundwater contamination. The system shall also be suitably designed to prevent mixing of surface runoff, flood water, storm water, or any accidental inflow with the effluent during flooding, rainfall, or unforeseen incidents
9. The industry shall provide adequate and proper arrangements for collection of stack emission samples as per the protocol, within 15 days.
10. The industry shall get the stack emissions / domestic effluent/ ground water samples collected & analyzed by the PBTI Lab for self-monitoring purpose twice in a year and shall submit the analysis reports alongwith photographs of the sample collection to the Board.
11. The industry shall depute a qualified engineer having experience in the field of Environment and shall constitute an Environmental Management Cell headed by senior functionaries of the industry for ensuring the compliance related to Environmental Laws, within one month.
12. The industry shall obtain varied authorization under the Hazardous and other Waste (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 for all the categories of hazardous waste generated from the premises, within 07 days. The current application of the industry for authorization under the Hazardous and other Waste (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 be refused.
13. The industry shall store the hazardous waste properly in environmentally sound manner in storage room and shall revise agreement with TSDF/ recyclers authorized by the Board to include all the categories of hazardous waste being generated by the industry, within 07 days.
14. Environmental Compensation for the period of violations, made under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Hazardous & Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, shall be imposed on the industry. For that, concerned Environmental Engineer of the Regional Office shall take necessary action to evaluate the violation period and make calculations of Environmental compensation within 07 days and place the same before EC Verification Committee and Competent Authority for approval and issuance.
15. The Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal 1, Ludhaina and Regional Office-2, Ludhiana shall process the application of the industry on merits in light of the facts given by the STP (Local Government) regarding land use pattern of the area as per the notified Master Plan, Ludhiana.
16. Environmental Engineer, Regional Office-2, Ludhiana shall visit the industry as per the given timelines to verify submissions made by the industry during the hearing, carry out effluent /emission sampling, verify the compliance of above said decisions and various environmental laws and shall submit its recommendations.
The industry has applied for obtaining varied consents of the Board under the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 and as per recommendations of RO , the industry has carried out expansion in its existing premises by adding new land parcel and has also constructed a new shed on the newly added land, which fall under mixed land use zone as per Master Plan of Ludhiana. Moreover, the existing category of the industry falls in the red category. Therefore, the entire unit of the industry (after expansion) falls in red category. Further, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, Punjab has issued a notification dated 17.09.2021, the operative part of the notification is reproduced as under :- B. Industry in the Mix Land Use Zone: All Orange and Red category of industries along with other activities permissible in Mix Land Use Zone shall be allowed along the highway/ major roads beyond 4 kilometers from the municipal limits of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana Corporation, 3 kilometers from the limits of other Corporation and Class-A town limits, and 2 kilometers from other towns. As per Board policy 2013, no new industry of any category shall be allowed in the approved residential area of any town/city of the State of Punjab and no red/orange category of industry shall be given consent to establish (CTE) within M.C. limits except in the designated industrial area/zone. The site of the industry falls in M.C. Limits of Doraha City. Moreover, on examination of the facts and comments of STP, it is submitted that the subject unit is an existing Red category industry, whose operations are confined to its original premises which stands spot-zoned as ‘Industrial’ under the applicable Master Plan. As per Notification No. PS/PSHUD 206 dated 12.11.2021, only Green category activities are permissible in areas falling under Mixed Land Use Zone. The clarification of STP permits expansion/modernization only within the existing/original premises of such unit, subject to conformity with land use zoning norms. In the present case, the industry has purchased an adjoining parcel of land falling under Mixed Land Use Zone and has proposed expansion on the said land under the pretext of undertaking Green category activities. However, allowing such expansion on newly acquired adjoining land is not covered under the STP clarification, which is restricted to expansion within the original premises only. Further, permitting such expansion would create a regulatory risk of gradual shifting, merging, or incremental expansion of Red category activities into non-conforming zones, thereby defeating the intent of land use zoning provisions and leading to misuse of policy.
Considering above, may if approved, varied consent cases applied by the industry under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 may be refused without affording any opportunity of personal hearing, please. (Competency -worthy Chairperson of the Board)
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