Messy state of affairs

Raising the spectre of an unhygienic and toxic ambience for local residents is the continued failure of the authorities concerned to dispose of sewage properly. A series of reports in The Tribune betrays the messy state of affairs caused by the improper removal of effluents in some towns of Punjab. The story common to Ludhiana, Muktsar and Chandigarh is that sewage treatment plants (STPs) set up for the benefit of these cities are either not functioning or are ineffective. Sadly, this situation has been prevailing for many years. Public demands, rebukes by the high court and fines imposed by the National Green Tribunal for failure to treat effluents before their release, or ultimatums given by the pollution control board on separate occasions, have had little effect on the ground.

Ludhiana is bearing the brunt of inadequately treated effluents of dye-making and electroplating industries seeping into the Buddha Nullah as the STPs have not been upgraded. Farmers’ fields receive polluted irrigation water from the nullah; and since it empties into the Sutlej, the river is also polluted. Luckily, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the ambitious

Rs 840-crore rejuvenation project of the nullah going on since 2020 and which reached the halfway mark in February. In contrast, Muktsar’s condition is despairing. All three STPs installed in the town have been lying defunct for almost six years. Government efforts to repair them have been rebuffed nine times as tenders floated for the purpose drew no takers. The bane of City Beautiful is the absence of any STP in Nayagaon, a Mohali village on its periphery. It is linked to the ‘Patiala ki Rao’, a choe running through the city, having deteriorated into a ‘ganda nullah’ as untreated sewage and garbage from the surrounding villages are being dumped into it.

People should not be condemned to live in stinking and environmentally hazardous surroundings. It is taking a toll on their health and well-being. Time-bound mitigating measures are needed to clean up the act.