Pollution of Sutlej, substandard drugs: Baddi-Nalagarh faces a double whammy
Shimla, August 24
Himachal Pradesh’s Baddi-Nalagarh industrial belt, one of the country’s major pharmaceutical and manufacturing hubs, is facing a double whammy of environmental and public-health concerns, with an FIR alleging discharge of chemical waste into the Sutlej system in Punjab coming alongside the detection of a large number of substandard drug samples manufactured in the state.
An FIR was registered at City Ropar police station on Sunday against unidentified industrial units of the Baddi-Nalagarh area following a complaint by Ropar AAP MLA Dinesh Chadha. The complaint alleges that chemical-based industrial pollutants entering the Sirsa river from the Baddi-Nalagarh industrial belt were subsequently contaminating the Sutlej. The alleged pollution has raised concerns over drinking-water supplies, aquatic life and public health in Ropar.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 270, 271, 279 and 280 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 24 and 43 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and Section 7 of the Environment (Protection) Act.
Chadha has alleged that a substantial quantity of chemical waste had accumulated near the Ropar headworks. The allegation comes against the backdrop of studies cited by The Tribune reporting pharmaceutical compounds, heavy metals and other industrial contaminants in the Sirsa river downstream of Baddi.
Adding another dimension to the concerns surrounding the state’s pharmaceutical industry, the latest CDSCO drug alert has found 83 drug samples manufactured in Himachal Pradesh failing to conform to prescribed quality standards. Of these, 12 samples failed tests conducted by central laboratories, while 71 failed testing by state drug-control laboratories.
The failed samples were manufactured largely in Solan, Sirmaur, Una and Kangra, with Solan accounting for 56 samples.
The twin developments raise questions over regulatory oversight of the Baddi-Nalagarh industrial cluster—an environmental concern on one side and questions over the quality of medicines manufactured in the same industrial ecosystem on the other.
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While the pollution allegations will now be subject to investigation, the drug-testing results underline the need for closer scrutiny of manufacturing and quality-control practices before medicines reach consumers.
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