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Buddha Nullah Pollution: ‘Find a solution for scattered dairy units in Ludhiana’
Chief executive officer (CEO) of Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) Isha Kalia directed Ludhiana municipal authorities to find a solution for around 100 scattered units too, otherwise dairy waste and cow dung will continue being dumped into the Buddha Nullah
With the municipal authorities working to establish effluent treatment plants (ETP) to deal with waste in Haibowal and Tajpur road dairy complexes, chief executive officer (CEO) of Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) Isha Kalia directed them to find a solution for around 100 scattered units too, otherwise dairy waste and cow dung will continue being dumped into the nullah.
Kalia was in the city on Wednesday to review the progress of ₹650-crore Buddha Nullah rejuvenation project wherein different steps are being taken, including construction and upgradation of sewer treatment plants (STP), construction of effluent treatment plants etc, to clean the nullah.
After holding a meeting with the officials at the MC’s Zone-D office, Kalia visited under-construction STP sites, among other areas, along with MLAs Gurpreet Gogi (Ludhiana West), Madan Lal Bagga (Ludhiana North) and Daljit Singh Bhola Grewal (Ludhiana East), municipal corporation (MC) commissioner Shena Aggarwal, among other officials.
The MC has been struggling to find a solution for dairy waste for year. Dairy waste and cow dung from over 500 dairy units is being dumped into the nullah, adding to the pollution. The project to shift the dairy units out of the city limits has also been put on hold for now.
During her visit to the bio-gas plant established to deal with cow dung in Haibowal dairy complex, Kalia also directed the authorities to find a solution for around 100 scattered units in the city. She said the nullah cannot be cleaned unless the scattered units are stopped from dumping in the MC sewer lines. She also directed the authorities to operate the bio-gas plant in Haibowal at its full capacity.
₹270-crore already spent
Meanwhile, the officials said over ₹270-crore has already been spent on the project to clean the nullah for construction of a new STP in Jamalpur area, installation of interceptor lines for stopping the direct flow of sewer into the nullah, installation of chain-linked fencing around nullah etc. They further said ETPs are being established for dealing with waste in dairy complexes and they will also work out a solution for the scattered units in different parts of the city.
Gogi directed the officials to complete the project to rejuvenate the nullah by March 2023.
Dairy owners, residents attaching their sewer connections with CETP line: PDA
During Kalia’s visit to under-construction Jamalpur STP, members of Punjab Dyers Association (PDA), led by Chairman Ashok Makkar, Bobby Jindal among others, handed over a memorandum to the officials stating that the dairy owners, households on Tajpur road have illegally attached their sewer connections with the sewer line of Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), which has been established for treating the waste of dyeing industry. Due to it sewer waste is now getting into CETP, which will ultimately affect the process to treat the waste. They sought a solution for the problem.
