AAP and BJP workers staged a dharna outside the main gate of the Primo Chemicals unit in Nangal town on Thursday. The protesters alleged that the plant was contaminating the groundwater in the surrounding area. They also claimed that frequent chlorine gas leaks from the facility posed a threat to the health of people living nearby.The protesters said they had sought a meeting with the Chairman and Managing Director of the unit but were denied one. They said they would not allow the plant to operate until the management assured them that measures were being taken to prevent air and water pollution in the area.The protesters submitted a memorandum to the local administration, demanding a thorough assessment of the pollution allegedly being caused by the plant, by the state and Central Pollution Control Boards. They also raised slogans against the plant management.Primo Chemicals, which was earlier known as Punjab Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (PACL), primarily manufactures caustic soda and chlorine. The plant also has a captive thermal power plant. It was earlier run by the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC).However, during the previous Congress government, the PSIDC sold its stake in the unit, and the plant was privatised. The new management changed the name of the unit from PACL to Primo Chemicals.AAP leaders had initially alleged large-scale corruption in the sale of the PACL plant. However, the government did not initiate any probe into the allegations made by them regarding the sale of the plant during the last four-and-a-half years of the AAP government.The plant management has denied the allegations of pollution being caused by the unit. Primo Chemicals DGM Bhagwati Prasad, when contacted by phone, said the unit was complying with all norms laid down by the Punjab and Central Pollution Control Boards. “We have mandatory permissions from both boards to operate,” he said.Bhagwati Prasad further said the unit was ready for a pollution audit by IIT Ropar to assess the pollution allegedly being caused by the unit. “We have given this proposal to the protesters, but they are in no mood to reason,” he said.Sources told The Tribune that people living in the vicinity of the Primo Chemicals plant had been alleging that their groundwater had been contaminated due to discharges from the plant. However, these allegations had not been established by the state pollution control board.The sources also attributed the current tiff to disputes between the plant management and the local truck union, as well as the retrenchment of certain employees by the management.