Opinion | Business Growth Cannot Be at the Cost of Human Lives and Environmental Loss

Growth and prosperity cannot be at the cost of human lives and environmental loss. This is not the definition of inclusive growth. Businesses that are not environmentally sustainable are at best set up and run for the short term and cannot grow to be larger corporations of the future. Every state in India must champion the concept of ‘Sustainable Entrepreneurship’ and that alone can bring accountability and social responsibility to every entrepreneur towards the environment and prevent the collision of business, environmental interests and human lives.

April 30 was a sad Sunday morning, that was painfully etched in the memories of the Giaspura locality of Ludhiana forever when 11 people lost their lives when a sewerage manhole gas leak caused people to drop dead. Out of these 11, five belonged to a single family. Surprisingly, leakage of odorous gases and effluents is an accepted fact for the residents of this locality who live amid rickety, polluting industrial units in residential areas.

The present gas leak disaster needs grassroots investigation and seems to have been the culmination of years of degrading environmental conditions in the state. In a survey conducted by IQAir, a Swiss-based air quality technology company, Ludhiana was featured in the top 50 most polluted cities of the world in 2021, reported an average yearly particulate matter (PM) 2.5 value of 71.8 micrograms per metric cube (µg/m3). Saw a big jump of more than 100 ranks as compared to the previous year earning it the 41^st spot among the cities of the world. The credit for these deplorable conditions goes to almost unplanned industrial activities riding on lives in nearby residential areas. Be it small or big industries, pollution-led industries are continuously haunting human lives.

Once the Manchester of India, Ludhiana accounts for 75 percent of India’s bicycle production and 95 percent of India’s woolen knitwear exports, the city’s residential areas having thousands of tiny industrial units. They are forced to run from residential localities which are legally not permissible to operate under hazardous conditions. The illegal and harmful discharge and disposal of industrial waste and effluents has reached a crescendo in Punjab.

A recent audit by the state government confirmed that at least 765 MLD of wastewater is generated daily within the MC limits of Ludhiana, most of which flows into the sewer lines and open nullahs that further fall into the Buddha Nullah, the most polluted water body, an outcome of the disposal of industrial effluents in the local sewer network became a nightmare in minutes and snuffed out lives.

There are about six common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) with a capacity of 135 MLD (millions of litres per day or megalitres per day) operated significantly by the Punjab Dyeing Association to treat industrial waste. However, waste generated by the tiny industries in residential areas in the unscientific manner in which it was dumped and flown into the civic body’s sewer lines and open nullahs remains a mystery. It is witnessed that in the rainy season, industrial acid is often seen mixing with rainwater, and contact with the same is very hazardous. For a long time, the industrial units that have hazardous substances with their suspected pollution compliance standards have been escaping national attention. The Giaspura gas leak shows that the willful environmental destruction is a serious threat to innocent lives.

Small units run in residential areas and single-room tenements are accorded tacit nod to operate. As a result, these boot-strapped units running on shoestring budgets have never heard of waste treatment plants. As a result, the liquid and solid waste management rules framed by the National Green Tribunal in 2016 are alien to the industry operators.

Many more towns and cities have an inter-mix of residences and industries, for example, Jalandhar may be at the threshold of disasters that may unfold anytime. This requires more funds, infrastructure, and manpower to make the residential areas as well as business establishments environment-friendly. However, the government must not see this as an expense but more as an investment because new industries especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will spell the growth of the economy and employment generation. If these industrial units are not set up and run as per safe environment norms, we all will have to pay major social and environmental costs in the future.

The Way Forward

Today, the number one economic threat to humanity is our inability to value lives and nature. This is not only about monetisation. Sure, valuing human capital and ecosystem services is critical. So, valuing human lives also means that we have to accept leaving the realm of economics.

Tiny units operating in Ludhiana residential areas are not able to shift to proper focal points because the higher cost (Rs 4-5 crore/acre) of land is out of their reach and also affects their competitiveness. In nearby periphery areas of industrial towns of the state, new focal points should be set up for the tiny units at affordable prices.

To avoid man-made disasters, the northern India industrial hub, Ludhiana, needs to build up environment-friendly industrial as well as residential area infrastructure and for this, a special environment welfare fund should be generated through excise policy to save precious human lives losses in the future.

The writer is Vice-Chairman of Sonalika group, Vice-Chairman (Cabinet minister rank) of Punjab Economic Policy and Planning Board. Views expressed are personal.