The Punjab government has acknowledged that around 26 dyeing units in Ludhiana’s Industrial Area-A remain outside the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) network, citing the infeasibility of connecting them to existing facilities and the failure to secure land for a separate plant. The admission, made before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), brings into focus the unresolved challenges confronting the state’s efforts to regulate industrial wastewater discharge into Buddha Nullah.
In its submission on October 27, the Department of Science, Technology and Environment highlighted a persistent gap in the pollution-control roadmap formulated in October 2019 to prevent untreated industrial effluent from contaminating Buddha Nullah and, ultimately, the Sutlej.
Ludhiana has three CETPs, located on Bahadurke Road, Tajpur Road and at Focal Point, with a combined treatment capacity of 105 million litres per day (MLD). The facilities are listed as serving 211 member units. The state has cited technical and logistical constraints in connecting the 26 dyeing units in Industrial Area-A to these plants, while efforts by industrial associations to identify land for a separate facility have proved unsuccessful.
Under the 2019 directions, units that could not be connected to the existing treatment network were to relocate to the catchment area of a proposed CETP or upgrade their treatment systems to achieve zero liquid discharge (ZLD), preventing industrial effluent from entering the municipal sewerage network. The directions also envisaged regulatory action and environmental compensation in cases involving delays in making CETPs operational.
The submission does not clarify whether all 26 units have installed compliant treatment systems or achieved ZLD. Their exclusion from the CETP network, by itself, does not establish that they are discharging untreated effluent, leaving the status of their individual treatment arrangements unclear.
Buddha Nullah, a seasonal stream that flows through Ludhiana before joining the Sutlej, has long been a major pollution concern because of contamination from industrial effluent, domestic sewage and other waste. The 2019 roadmap envisaged coordinated action by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology. The plan included expanding CETP connectivity, segregating industrial effluent from domestic wastewater and providing alternative treatment arrangements for units that could not be connected to existing plants.
The state’s submission forms part of an appeal filed by Azeez Fabrics Private Limited, which operates in Industrial Area-A, against the PPCB and other authorities. The company has challenged a communication issued by the board on November 19, 2025, under Section 33-A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
Azeez Fabrics has sought the quashing of the communication, permission to continue operations without ZLD and directions to the Punjab government and the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to connect its unit to a CETP.
In its submission, the state has outlined the constraints affecting the expansion of the treatment network and referred to the regulatory framework and earlier proceedings concerning pollution in Buddha Nullah. It has also sought permission to adopt the PPCB’s separate reply rather than independently defending the board’s action in detail.
The continuing exclusion of the 26 units from the CETP network raises questions about the implementation of the state’s pollution-control strategy. Although the government has cited infrastructure constraints, its submission does not specify the treatment arrangements currently in place at each unit or establish whether they meet the applicable pollution-control requirements.