Municipal waste chokes drains in border districts

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 18

The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT’s) decision to impose Rs 50-crore fine on the Punjab Government for pollution in the Sutlej and Beas rivers due to uncontrolled industrial discharge has exposed the failure of the authorities concerned to tackle the problem.

With negligible industrial units in Amritsar district, there is no major industrial discharge into the Beas and Ravi rivers. However, both are suffering from pollution caused by the flow of sewage from various townships, settlements and villages located along their banks.

A majority of industrial units in Majha discharge their waste into the drains meant for draining out floodwater. Through these drains, the waste flows into the rivers.

An official of the Irrigation Department said there were at least four main drains in the region — Sakki Nullah, Hudiara, Kasur Nullah and Patti drain. Sakki Nullah starts from the Dinanagar area and ends in the Ravi near Rania village along the Indo-Pakistan border after passing through Dera Baba Nanak, Kalanaur and Ajnala.

The Hudiara drain or Tung Dhab drain carries industrial and civic waste into the Ravi. The Kasur drain pass through Gurdaspur, Batala, parts of Amritsar, and Bhikhiwind (Tarn Taran) village near the international border before entering the Sutlej. The Patti drain also ends in the Sutlej.

Earlier this year, Nagpur-based National Environment Engineer Research Institute (NEERI), had started a project to clean the Tung Dhab drain and convert its surroundings into a green space. However, it shelved its plan after its engineers found the drain carrying an alarmingly high level of effluents. Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had envisaged the project, had blamed PPCB engineers, saying that he had planned it on the basis of their inputs.

Gunbir Singh, chairperson, World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature (Punjab), said as per the WWF report-2012, 13 drains culminated in the Beas river, while the number was 12 in the case of the Sutlej.

“This is very alarming. There are rules for everything, but no implementation,” he said.

Dr Chander Parkash, Assistant Professor, Punjab Technical University, said the Sutlej, prior to its confluence with the Beas at Harike, was a highly polluted river. It is only after the confluence that the quality of water improves a bit, he added.