Industrialists, traders protest against closure of polluting industries

CHANDIGARH: At a time when the Haryana government is struggling with the poor air quality in the state, especially along the major highways, industrialists and traders have opened a front against closure of factories. The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), an agency constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has ordered closure of polluting industries , especially the coal-based units in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) areas of Haryana and Rajasthan.

Panipat recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 405 on Monday, which is alarming. Similarly, Karnal recorded an AQI of 298 and Kurukshetra 301. Panipat figures have gone from bad to worse due to industrial pollution, along with smoke caused by paddy stubble burning and poor traffic management in the city. There are around 12,000 textile and 600 dyeing units in Panipat. According to industrialists, the units have been closed since October 28.

On Monday, headed by owners of the industrial units, employees and labourers took out a protest march from the pollution control board office to the mini-secretariat and gave a memorandum to the deputy commissioner. “For the past fortnight our units have remained closed. Labourers are sitting idle. All this is happening despite the fact that we have put all measures of pollution control in place. Are we polluting the environment in New Delhi? If yes, then why AQI is under control in Karnal and Sonipat,” said Bheem Rana, a representative of the dyeing industry.

This way, the government has started the campaign of ‘close up’ of industries against the slogan of ‘start up’. On Monday, we had a symbolic protest. Now, we shall take our families to the EPCA’s office to protest, he added while referring to further course of action.

“Who will pay for the electricity bills, labourers and the monthly instalments of the bank liabilities if we don’t operate industries?” Rana questioned. He pegged the losses at Rs 350 crore per day due to no business and exports due to closure of industries.

The forced closure has also given the Congress a reason to target chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and deputy CM Dushyant Chautala. “All this is being done due to failure of the system as well as the government. Due to the faulty economic policies, trade and industries are on the verge of closure. Panipat is the recent example,” said Kumari Selja, HPCC president.