Govt says no to setting up of two units
Saturday, 12/01/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130112/punjab.htm#6
Chandigarh : The Punjab Government has refused to grant permission to at least two industrial units in blocks notified as critical or declared as over-exploited by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
Sources said the government had said no to proposals for a beverage unit near Dera Bassi and a chains manufacturing unit near Ludhiana. Both the units were worth Rs 400 crore, it is learnt. Earlier, there was a move to set up a beverage plant near Pathankot.
Sources said that permission had been denied to the plants after certain points were raised by the Central Ground Water Board authorities at a meeting held here under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister.
The sources said that the proposed unit in Ludhiana was likely to be approved later following the nod from the Irrigation Department to supply water to it from a canal. The CGWA has notified 27 more blocks in Punjab as critical. In all, there are 162 blocks notified as critical in the country. Of these 45 are in Punjab, the highest in the country. Gujarat has four critical blocks, Haryana 17 and Tamil Nadu 18.
Paddy, that consumes a lot of water, has pushed the state to the brink of eco- disaster. Of the 138 of the total 141 blocks in the state, 110 are over-exploited and 45 critical.
In the blocks notified as critical, no one can install an energy-operated tubewell or any other water-extracting mechanism without the permission of the committee notified by the CGWA under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned.
The CGWA can proceed against violators under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Under the Act.
