“The plant has made our life hell.The air and water pollution are destroying us,”Gurkirtan Singh,a protester.
“It is a political motivated move,arm twisting,and attempt to achieve selfish goals”,Pushpinder Singh,MD Harp Chemicals.
Raghbir Singh Brar
Faridkot
September 22, 2026
Email:raghbirsinghbrar@gmail.com
An ethanol production unit located in village Jahangir in Dhuri, the assembly segment of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann in Sangrur district, is facing intense backlash and regular protests from local residents who allege severe environmental pollution.
According to the locals, who have been holding a regular dharna outside the unit since August 5, 2026, the plant run by Harp Chemicals Private Limited has been set up within one kilometer of village Jahangir and is spread across roughly 13 acres of land purchased from farmers of two villages.
The protesters allege that the unit is aggravating both depletion and contamination of subsoil water in a block which is already categorized as overexploited.
“Our block falls in the overexploited category. The plant has installed two tubewells which pump out pure groundwater and then wastewater is injected back into the ground through reverse borewells, which pollutes the subsoil water. Some wastewater is injected back, some is spilled over the ground and some is disposed of with ash,” alleged Gurkirtan Singh, a youth from village Bamal who said he is part of the group spreading awareness and fighting for justice for 8 to 10 surrounding villages.”
Our subsoil water has been polluted. Some of our tubewells now pump out blackish water. Apart from water pollution, the plant is causing all kinds of pollution. The fly ash emitted settles on plants and crops. The foul smell from fermentation of grains flows with the wind and it is always there,” Gurkirtan Singh told
www. Punjab Express.com over phone.
He said written complaints have been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur and SDM, Dhuri, after which the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) collected samples.
“PPCB has taken samples after our complaints but nothing has happened.Last time a large number of us waited for the teams to collect samples,but the samples were only taken in the evening when many of us left waiting endlessly for the team to visit that now they would not come,” alleged Gurkirtan singh.
.Dismissing the plant’s claim of a local monitoring committee, Gurkirtan said, “Some members were from the plant and some resigned. The committee has not much authority. We want complete shutdown, but we have not blocked the gates, so the plant is functional.
“As the plant is run by all-powerful people, they influence the system as they like, but we are determined to continue our protest,” he alleged.
He further claimed that on late Tuesday evening that Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) visited the protest site and assured full support to Jahangir Sanjha Morcha, Dhuri.
Earlier too,some high profile people like Amitoj Mann and Lakha Sidhana have arrested the protesters.
Management Refutes Allegations as Baseless
When contacted, Pushpinder Singh, Managing Director of Harp Chemicals Private Limited, refuted all allegations as baseless and termed the agitation politically motivated and an attempt at arm-twisting.
“There is zero pollution, no pollution at all. There is no reverse boring. Many times they have got our samples checked. Sarpanches have also done surprise checks and found nothing illegal. There is no air pollution, rather we are burning paddy stubble which the governments have allowed for such plants. We are working within prescribed norms of state and central governments. They are playing a political game for selfish interests. Some people think they can extort money by arm-twisting, but we will not do it. If we violated norms, our unit would have been shut long ago,” said Pushpinder Singh.
“We have asked them to form as many committees as they want and visit the plant without informing us,” he added.
“whatelse can we do,”Pushpinder added.
Plant Details and Operational Background
As per official profile, the Jahangir Ethanol Plant of Harp Chemicals Pvt Ltd is a grain-based ethanol distillery at Village Jahangir, Dhuri, Sangrur. It is a 330 KLD capacity plant with 5.5 MW cogeneration power.The unit produces ethanol from corn and rice sourced from local farmers to support India’s Ethanol Blending Programme. In its process, grains are ground, cooked and converted into ethanol, while the remaining fibre and protein are processed into animal feed (DDGS). The company maintains that water used is fully treated in its Effluent Treatment Plant and reused with zero ground injection, with the dual objective of clean fuel and boosting farm incomes.