SAD steps up attack against Cong govt on molasses leak issue

Stepping up its attack against the Congress government in Punjab on the issue of death of fishes due to molasses leakage into the Beas, opposition SAD today demanded immediate arrest of a sugar mill owner for alleged "willful" discharge of pollutants into the river.

Addressing a series of meetings at Awan khalsa, Bhagela, Umrewal bille, Haripur, Sangowal, Jhugia, Adraman villages and Mehatpur City, Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal said it was shocking that even days after the incident, no action had been taken.

He said the "willful" discharge of industrial effluents by the sugar mill was akin to a criminal act and should be treated as such.

This act had not only affected the environment, but would affect the lives of lakhs of people of the Malwa region, where many were already suffering from cancer due to release of effluents into rivers, Badal said.

Alleging that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh seemed to be bent upon appeasing his "friend" -- the Sarna family -- at the cost of the welfare of the state, he urged the Union environment ministry to intervene and take action.

A large number of fish were found dead in Beas on May 17 after molasses from a sugar factory leaked into the river in Punjab's Beas town, about 40 km from Amritsar.

The molasses was leaked from the Chadha Sugar Mill of Kirri Afgana in Gurdaspur. The mill reportedly belonged to Jasdeep Kaur Chadha, the daughter of former Delhi Gurdwara Sikh Parbandhak Committee chief Harvinder Singh Sarna.

Jasdeep Kaur Chadha's late husband Hardeep Singh Chadha was the brother of liquor baron Ponty Chadha. Both brothers were killed allegedly in a crossfire in 2012.

Yesterday, the SAD had sought judicial probe into the incident.