Ghaziabad: After a GMC report found Loni to be the world’s most polluted in 2025, 25 industrial units were sealed in the area on Tuesday in a joint operation by the district administration and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, besides other agencies.Officials claimed that most of the units were operating illegally and were involved in metal smelting. Loni SDM Deepak Singhanwal said that seven teams conducted raids at different locations. Operators in most of the factories closed their units and fled. The factories were sealed immediately, and the electricity department disconnected their power supply.An official at the pollution control board, Satyendra Pratap Singh, said that the action was taken after multiple complaints against the factories. The crackdown was carried out under the direction of DM Ravindra Kumar Mandar and Loni SDM Deepak Singhanwal.Industry owners criticised the action, saying they were not served notices before the sealing drive. Factory owners claimed that they have been provided with an industrial connection for power supply, which indicates that they are operating with the administration’s permission.Manik Agrawal of Shivang Enterprises, engaged in the manufacture of utensil handles, said that their factory comes in the white category and does not cause any air or water pollution. He said the unit is part of A-category industries which do not require any consent to operate. “We have purchased a plot in the area made available by GDA but unless we are given possession, how can we shift operations,” he said.Others raised questions about loss of livelihood for several hundred labourers engaged in the factories. Women workers raised slogans against the enforcement team and requested them to spare the factories, fearing loss of livelihood, and threatened to sit in protest before the DM office if an immediate solution was not provided.The teams comprised administrative officials, representatives from Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board, electricity department, police, and revenue department. The teams simultaneously conducted raids in the Behta-Hajipur, Sevadham, Amit Vihar, Premnagar, Krishna Nagar, Ankur Vihar and Tila Shahbazpur areas of Loni.
