5 illegal units sealed for flouting pollution rules, 49 booked, 2 held

Ghaziabad: In a crackdown against illegal units involved in burning cables to extract copper and other metals in Loni, a joint team of district administration and police lodged an FIR against 49 people for creating public nuisance, endangering lives and disobedience to government order at Loni Border police station.

According to sources, two persons were arrested.

The district administration officials said action under the Gangster Act would also be initiated against them. The joint team, headed by district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey and SSP Sudhir Kumar Singh, raided the factories in Behta Hajipur and adjoining areas on Tuesday and seized around 150 quintals of wires from various illegal warehouses.

As many as five warehouses were sealed .

DM Pandey said instructions have been given to the Loni Border police to ensure that prohibited consignments are not brought here for disposal. Moreover, Loni Nagar Palika Parishad has been directed to ask the public to refrain from prohibited activities and deposit the illegal raw materials at its office within two days. Meanwhile, taking a strong view of construction as well as garbage burning in the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) area, Pandey on Tuesday ordered adverse entry against UPSIDC senior manager (civil) Panna Lal in his service record for lackadaisical approach towards duty. The senior official recommended suspension of assistant manager (civil) Satish Chaudhary to UPSIDC managing director in Kanpur. The DM also sought a clarification from UPSIDC regional manager Smita Singh for the failure to implement orders related to pollution control.

A day earlier, the district administration had ordered registration of an FIR against the owner of a plot in Bulandshahr road industrial area at Kavi Nagar police station after a heap of garbage was found to be set on fire.

A sum of Rs 25,000 was also imposed on the accused as a compensation towards environmental damage in accordance with the National Green Tribunal’s directive.