Pollution in Buddha Nullah: PAC activists continue drive, submit memo

Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 28

Led by activists of the public action committee (PAC) for rejuvenation of the Buddha Dariya, environmentalists today carried out an awareness march and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann through AAP Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Gogi Bassi, demanding formulation of a comprehensive plan of action for saving the drain from alarming level of pollution and turning it into a body of clean water again.

PAC activists CM Lakahanpal, Kapil Arora and other members said they had urged the government to set up a biodiversity park at the site, earlier identified for a textile park, in Mattewara, which had already been acquired by the government and after the project having been scrapped, most part of the land had been encroached upon.

The government must honour its commitment to safeguard the reserve forest land and take steps for returning part of the acquired land to the Sekhowal Panchayat as per assurances given by the Chief Minister in July 2022 in a meeting with the PAC, they added.

The PAC asked the government to shut down the liquor factory at Zira in Ferozepur district without any further delay and the closure orders, in writing, be issued forthwith. “Villages that had their water polluted by the factory should be urgently provided clean drinking water from alternate source on a priority basis and criminal cases lodged against protesters raising the issue of pollution by the factory be cancelled.”

The PAC cautioned the government against any further concretisation of canals and urged to cancel concretisation plan of the twin canals leading to Rajasthan.

Any project likely to threaten the Sutlej with any kind of pollution should be dropped. The government must constitute a committee of independent experts for an immediate and time-bound audit of all STPs, CETPs, along with monitoring the progress of the ‘Buddha Dariya rejuvenation project,’ suggested the PAC, adding that necessary measures should be taken by all departments concerned in close co-ordination with each other to avert recurrence of incidents such as Giaspura gas tragedy.