100 cusecs more fresh water released into Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23

A day after releasing 50 cusecs of water into the Buddha Nullah from near Neelon, the Drainage Department released around 100 cusecs of water today.

Amid questions being raised by environmental activists and protest by farmers, MLAs Amrik Singh Dhillon and Lakhbir Singh and Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu had inaugurated the Rs 9.80-crore project of releasing daily 200 cusecs of fresh water.

With a view to rejuvenating the nullah, the Mayor and the MLAs on Sunday said the work was part of the state government’s ambitious Rs 650-crore project to clean the nullah by releasing canal water into the drain through the Neelon drain of the Sirhind Canal.

Member secretary of the PPCB Krunesh Garg said the project had been funded by the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

He said they were planning for the project since 2010.

An executive engineer from the Drainage Department, Harjot Singh, said they would start releasing 200 cusecs daily once the weather conditions improved. He said up to around 100 cusecs of water was released today.

Stop pollution before releasing water: Environmental activists

Farmers associated with a union had also staged a protest against the releasing of fresh water into the Buddha Nullah yesterday when the project was to be launched. Meanwhile, a number of environmental activists have raised questions over the release of fresh water into the highly polluted nullah without eliminating major sources of pollution. Col CM Lakhanpal (retd) said: “Release and flow of water into the Buddha Dariya from the Neelon side of the Sirhind canal should be kept to the minimum to maintain the flow and oxidation process for the degradation of biological waste as an interim measure. Full flow of 200 cusecs of water will be more beneficial after the completion of work on all STPs and CETPs, including dairy complexes.”

A member of the Buddha Nullah Task Force, Col JS Gill (retd), had also written to the Chief Minister, requesting him that the water should be released only after completion of rejuvenation of the Buddha Nullah project and stopping all kind of waste into the drain.