A section of the villagers alleged while holding a Press conference in Haridwar on Tuesday that the water being discharged by Patanjali Food and Herbal Park limited located in Padartha village under laksar Tehsil is polluting the Ganga river while affecting the health of the villagers living in its vicinity. They demanded action against the company run by Baba Ramdev from the Pollution Control Board. They further said that they have sent a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Two villagers led by a social activist Sanjay Pal from Khanjarpur Roorkee said during the Press conference that such water is being released from the factory for over ten years, leaving the revered Ganga polluted and posing grave health hazards for the villagers living near it.
“It is a height of hypocrisy that on one hand, the Yoga Guru is pontificating on a pollution- free Ganga and, on the other, the company he runs is polluting the holy river through the discharge of the untreated water in her,” said one of the villagers.
Villager Rajbeer Chauhan said that the water released from the factory flows through covered drain stretching around 1.5 km which passes through some villages before it flows into the Ganga.
They said that earlier the water was used by the villagers for irrigating the farmlands. Now, the water emanating a stench, they have stopped using it for farming or any other purpose, the villagers said.
They said they wanted strict action being taken by the errant company, making them vulnerable to diseases by their irresponsible action.
Acharya Balkrishna, the number two in the company against which the allegation has been made, refused to say anything while affirming that he cannot be expected to react to wild allegations raised by anybody. “I would not say anything,” he said when quizzed over the allegation.