Panipat: About 400 industrial units in Haryana will be closed with effect from October 1 due to the order of the Air Quality Management to shift to PNG or biofuel. The Air Quality Management Commission, set up to check pollution emanating from industries, has ordered the closure of coal-fired industries in the National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi, from October 1. Air Quality Management has asked entrepreneurs to shift boilers along with their generators to PNG.
About a year ago, the Air Quality Management had warned industrialists in Panipat to shut down their coal-fired industries, either by shifting them to PNG or biofuel, due to rising pollution. In a year, only about 150 industrialists have shifted their factories to biofuel in Panipat, said Bhim Rana, president of Panipat dyeing association. There are still around 400 factories in Panipat which run on coal and will have to be closed from October 1.
The last day given by the Air Quality Management to shift to biofuel was September 30, 2022. If any industrialist is found running his unit on coal, then a provision fine of Rs 1 crore and imprisonment of years will be imposed by the Pollution Control Board. The industrial city of Panipat is called the city of handlooms, and dyeing houses are considered to be the backbone of the handloom industry.
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The shoddy yarn industry of Panipat is considered to be the largest in Asia with 650 dyeing houses in the district, out of which only about 150 units have been shifted to PNG. If the dyeing houses of Panipat are closed, then the handloom industry in Panipat will come to a standstill. There are about 25000 to 30000 handloom and textile units in Panipat, both big and small.
About 6 to 7 lakh people are involved in the textile industry of Panipat. Of these, about 3 lakh people are migrants. If the handloom industry of Panipat closes, about 7 lakh people and their families will face financial crisis and unemployment. About Rs 20000 crores to 25000 crores worth of textile goods is exported abroad annually from the Panipat district.
