Following the incident of death of hundreds of fishes in the river Beas due to the Molasses spillover from the Sugar Mill of kirri Afghana in Ropar district, the Punjab Environment Minister O P Soni on Sunday said all canals will get fresh water up to the tails in the next 24 hours.

The Minister has said that the situation in the river Beas is being constantly monitored by the state government.

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Soni said that the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and senior officials of Irrigation department including Deputy Commissioner are continuously reviewing the situation at the grassroots level.

“All canals will get fresh water up to the tails in the next 24 hours. Apart from this, people have been requested not to use water from these canals for drinking purposes”, said the Minister.

He said that in order to deal with the situation arising due to Molasses spillover, 2,000 cusecs of water from Ranjit Sagar Dam has already been infused in the river Beas. “After that the situation has improved”, added Soni.

He said that the Environment Department has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Chief Engineer, PPCB which will submit its recommendations so that these type of situations never occur in future.

The Environment Minister further said that environmental issues were never take up seriously by the previous government.

“That is why there is no check on mills and factories, which used to spillover their chemicals and other hazardous residues in canals and streams. Whoever is responsible for the Beas incident, will not be spared at any cost”, said the Minister.

He said that Chaddha Sugar Mill has already been sealed and the security deposit of Rs 25 Lakh has also been confiscated.

Soni also said that strict instructions have been issued to the officials of the environment department and the PPCB to strictly monitor the situation.

“Strict action will be taken against those industries who are contaminating the rivers and streams”, he added.

Meanwhile, PPCB Chairman Kahan Singh Pannu said that according to the instructions of the government, the stocks of Molasses in all the sugar mills and liquor factories of the state were being checked out so as to make sure that this type of incident never happens in future.