Buddha Nullah cleaning project: New STP in bag, focus shifts to land for pumping station

One of the biggest hurdles currently being faced by the municipal corporation is acquiring land for an IPS near Gaushala point and Gaughat Gurdwara — in the absence of which 60 MLD sewage, domestic and industrial waste is directly entering and polluting the Buddha Nullah.

While chief minister Bhagwant Mann inaugurated the newly-constructed 225 million litre per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant (STP) at Jamalpur area amid much fanfare, the project of cleaning Buddha Nullah is still far from completion.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann inaugurated the newly-constructed 225 MLD STP at Jamalpur area amid much fanfare, the project of cleaning Buddha Nullah is still far from completion. (HT File)

One of the biggest hurdles currently being faced by the municipal corporation is acquiring land for the proposed intermediate pumping system (IPS) near Gaushala point and Gaughat Gurdwara — in the absence of which 60 MLD sewage, domestic and industrial waste is directly entering and polluting the Buddha Nullah.

Speaking of the same, Rahul Verma, a member of Punjab Dyers Association, said the government has yet to acquire the land. “Once the land is acquired it will take a significant amount of time for the construction of the pumping station. Till then the polluted water continues to flow in the Buddha Nullah,” he added.

While municipal commissioner Shena Aggarwal was not available for comments, mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said the proposal to acquire the MC land was approved during a recent General House meeting of the civic body.

Sandhu said the process of constructing the pumping station will begin soon after the land is acquired, adding that efforts are being taken to complete the construction within months.

The Buddha Nullah rejuvenation project was inaugurated on January 13, 2021, by the then Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal and former food, civil supplies and consumers affair minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Under the project, a new STP is being set up on the Tajpur road, while plans at Bhattian and Balloke are being relocated.

The STP will treat the sewage water and other effluents flowing into the 47.55-km seasonal tributary of the Sutlej, which runs almost parallel to Sutlej through most of Ludhiana district — including a 14-km stretch in the city, which it bisects — before merging into Sutlej.