Zira -The long public struggle against the Malbros liquor factory near Zira stands as one of the strongest examples of how common people, when pushed to the brink of ecological and health disaster, can rise together and force accountability. What began as scattered complaints from farmers and families about foul smell in groundwater, leaking tubewells, and deteriorating soil quality slowly turned into a mass-scale agitation. Villagers alleged that their fields were losing fertility, cattle were falling sick, and even drinking water was becoming unsafe. Yet, in the early phase, their voices were ignored, dismissed, or conveniently buried under political influence and corporate protection.
What added fuel to the public anger was the revelation now confirmed by investigative agencies that the factory was not simply creating industrial waste but was allegedly forcing contaminated water back into the earth through reverse boring. This deliberate act meant that toxic discharges traveled directly into groundwater veins, threatening the health of thousands. The protestors saw this not just as pollution but as a slow poisoning of their future. Families, farmers, labourers, and especially women stood on the frontlines, demanding answers while successive governments spoke the language of compromise and technical committees. But the people refused to back down. What followed was a struggle lasting almost three and a half years rallies, sit-ins, dharnas, legal petitions, public awareness campaigns, and relentless pressure on the administration.
Villagers turned their protest into a moral movement, insisting that no industrial profit could be allowed at the cost of water, soil, human life and future generations. Even when governments tried to placate the movement or tilt in favour of factory owners, the agitation only grew more determined. Finally, the turning point arrived with the Enforcement Directorate stepping in. In a major development that vindicated the protestors, the ED seized land, buildings, plant, and machinery worth nearly Rs 79.93 crore belonging to the controversial unit. The investigation officially recorded what villagers had been shouting for years that contaminated water was being pumped underground, causing leakage into pipelines and tubewells across the surrounding area. This enforcement action did not merely punish economic crime; it validated people’s fears and exposed the reckless attitude of the factory management.
Today, the Malbros factory stands closed fully shut down after one of the most sustained rural environmental struggles in recent Punjab history. For the people of Zira, this closure is not just administrative action it is justice earned through sacrifice, unity, and persistence. It is a lesson to every polluting industry, every complicit department, and every political patron: public health is not negotiable. The fight at Zira will be remembered as the day ordinary citizens saved their water, their soil, their homes, and their dignity.