Trident Raid : Here’s what pollution board team found -- North Desk EXCLUSIVE

Following the Trident raid, North Desk has reviewed the PPCB’s inspection report. The April 30 document records ETP malfunctions, leaking pipes, open sludge storage and uneven effluent distribution at Trident’s Dhaula unit — even as the company calls the raid politically motivated.

Arvind Chhabra

CHANDIGARH, May 1

Trident Raid took place on April 30 — and when a team of more than 30 Punjab Pollution Control Board officials descended on Trident Limited’s paper and textile unit at Village Dhaula, Barnala in Punjab on the evening of April 30, they came in roughly ten vehicles. By the time they left, they had collected multiple samples, inspected the effluent treatment plant, boiler stacks, fuel storage areas, and plantation zones.  

The raid and the visit report is now at the centre of a politically charged controversy. North Desk has reviewed the document in full.

Who is Rajinder Gupta — and why does this matter

The raid, and the controversy around it, cannot be understood without understanding who Rajinder Gupta is.

Gupta is the founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Trident Group — one of India’s largest manufacturers of home textiles and wheat straw-based paper, listed on both the BSE and NSE. He launched the business in 1990 as a yarn venture from Ludhiana, and over three decades built it into a USD 1 billion group with customers in over 100 countries. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution to trade and industry.

In November 2025, he was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket, filling a seat that had fallen vacant after AAP’s Sanjeev Arora won the Ludhiana West bypoll, entered the Punjab cabinet, and vacated the Upper House. On April 24, 2026, Gupta was among seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party — a political shift that triggered protests outside his Ludhiana residence and his Barnala factory, with AAP workers spray-painting “gaddar” on walls.

Incidentally, cricketer turned Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh — also among those who left AAP for BJP — had his home attacked by a mob after his security was withdrawn.

Six days later, on April 30, the PPCB team arrived at Dhaula.

What the report says

The April 30 inspection or what’s being called the Trident Raid was conducted by environmental engineers and other officers. 

Following are the observations recorded in the visit report:

• Near the boiler area, a stream carrying RO (Reverse Osmosis) reject water was found being mixed with a drain carrying low-COD paper plant effluent. A sample was collected.
• The fuel storage area had “a lot of dust deposited on the path which can become air-borne during vehicle movement.” No water suppression mechanism was observed at the site.
• Components of the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) were found “not working properly.” Specifically, scum was floating in the primary clarifier, there was a shortage of diffused aeration in both aeration tanks, and a temperature reading of 0.9°C was recorded in one aeration tank — a temperature, the report notes, at which “the biomass in the aeration tank cannot survive,” indicating the ETP “was not working properly.”
• The plantation area showed uneven distribution of treated effluent: some patches were dried, others flooded, with no uniform irrigation network. The report notes the plantation had not been developed as per “Karnal technology” specifications, with ridges and furrows not in place.
• Eucalyptus trees in a roughly three-acre plantation pocket had been “cut down” by the company, with fresh saplings planted in their place — but the area had not been developed as per methodology.
• A pipeline carrying treated effluent from the terry towel section was found leaking near the canal water intake. A coloured sample was collected from that point.
• Discarded plastic from various sections was lying at the site. The company informed officers it was disposed of to vendors, but the report notes it “needs to be disposed off to authorised recyclers.”
• The PPCB’s 130 TPH boiler had not been provided with OCEMS (Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System), though the representative informed that it is used on “standby basis.”

The visit report was signed by the company representative “under protest,” with objections recorded on the document.

Trident raid — political, says group. BJP condemns it.

Trident has described the raid as “arbitrary, coercive and mala fide” and directly linked it to Rajinder Gupta’s switch to the Bhartiya Janata Party.

Opposition parties in Punjab have also slammed the state government for the Trident raid.

BJP Punjab working president Ashwani Sharma condemned the action as “deplorable and politically motivated,” alleging it was carried out “at the behest of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to settle political scores.” Sharma said such actions “send a negative message to industry and investors.”

High Court grants interim protection — till Monday

Meanwhile, Trident has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the petition came up for hearing before a bench headed by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on May 1. Senior counsel D.S. Patwalia, appearing virtually for the PPCB submitted that no coercive steps would be taken against Trident till Monday, May 4. Patwalia also sought a short adjournment till Monday to seek instructions and file a para-wise reply.

North Desk awaits Trident’s response

North Desk has reached out to Trident Group Managing Director Deepak Nanda by phone and message seeking the company’s response to the specific observations in the PPCB visit report. This story will be updated upon receipt of a response.

The PPCB has not issued a public statement on the inspection findings.