E-Paper
Contain river pollution effectively or face music: NGT panel to PPCB
Fixing the next meeting on December 11, the chairperson also directed officials concerned to complete the tasks given to them in a time-bound manner.
The monitoring committee formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday asked the officials concerned to pull up their socks to take effective measures for containing the flow of untreated industrial and domestic waste into rivers or face the music.
The committee also directed the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), the municipal corporations (MCs) of Ludhiana and Jalandhar for proper monitoring to check the flow of untreated industrial and domestic waste besides launching a crackdown on erring industrial units violating the pollution norms.
Reviewing the implementation of action plans for clean rivers, committee chairperson Justice Jasbir Singh (retd) while referring to an issue raised by environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal on the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak directed the PPCB to ensure that no waste is thrown into the historic Kali Bein.
He said no laxity will be tolerated in this regard, pointing out that the committee will initiate field visits soon to assess the ground reality in different districts including Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
Fixing the next meeting on December 11, the chairperson also directed officials concerned to complete the tasks given to them in a time-bound manner.
It was also decided that the agencies involved in preventing the state rivers from getting polluting will ensure the timely submission of action taken reports or the officials will be held accountable for delay.
