Chandigarh administration to install water quality monitoring station at N-choe

The monitoring stations are being installed on the directions of the National Green Tribunal

For real-time monitoring of the pollution levels in the N-choe, the UT administration will be installing a water quality monitoring station on the seasonal rivulet.

HT Image

“The monitoring stations are being installed on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had earlier instructed the administration to check pollution in the N-Choe, particularly, to stop the discharge of sewage into it,” said a UT official.

Even though the administration claims to have closed all sewage outlets except one point, the monitoring station will keep a tab if any such effluent is discharged in the choe. “In such cases, the department concerned will get live updates if the pollution increases over the permissible levels. The entire process will be monitored online,” the official said.

The system will monitor, the pH value, BOD and COD of water. “The station will be installed at the choe near the Mohali border because when water enters there from Chandigarh, it will ensure that water does not get contaminated,” the official said.

The N-choe passes through several gardens in the city and is flooded during the rainy season. It enters Kajheri, Mohali after passing through Leisure Valley.

In the past, NGT had appointed inspection committees that found N-choe water to be contaminated.

“The monitoring station will also be beneficial for the people coming to the gardens here, because if the water of N-Choe is contaminated, then the department will be able to make efforts to improve it immediately after getting information. Around ₹2 lakh will be spent on the station.