Punjab Pollution Control Board issues ultimatum to Ludhiana's scattered dyeing units to adopt zero-liquid-discharge technology or shift out of city.

Ludhiana: The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has issued a final ultimatum to nearly four-dozen scattered local dyeing units — adopt zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology by the end of the year or shift operations outside the city.

The directive is part of an intensified crackdown to prevent untreated industrial effluents from contaminating the Buddha Dariya, a heavily polluted urban drain in the heart of the city that joins the Satluj. While cleaning efforts outside Ludhiana have shown significant progress, authorities are struggling to curb wastewater inflows within city limits, from small-scale dyeing units particularly.

R K Ratra, chief engineer at the PPCB, said: "Operators of these units must either install ZLD systems or relocate to designated industrial hubs. The deadline for infrastructure setup is Sept 2025, with full compliance expected by Dec." Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal, a noted environmental activist, is spearheading efforts to restore the Buddha Dariya through community-driven ‘kar sewa' (voluntary service). Despite these efforts, several units operating in pockets such as Industrial Area, Jalandhar Bypass, and Samrala Chowk continue discharging untreated wastewater into municipal sewers, undermining the broader cleanup mission.

The owners of a few units have submitted compliance proposals to the PPCB. While a few are adopting ZLD, others prepare to move their operations outside city limits, where treated water will be repurposed for irrigation. Larger textile manufacturers, meanwhile, are opting to outsource dyeing to third-party fabricators or cease in-house processing altogether.

Notably, while the PPCB urged Ludhiana's municipal corporation to disconnect sewer lines of non-compliant units more than two years ago, no action has been taken. Officials cite pending decisions from the state govt as the reason for inaction. As the Dec 2025 deadline looms, PPCB officials have claimed that monitoring and enforcement will intensify to ensure Ludhiana's waterways are no longer used as industrial dumping grounds.

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