Ludhiana: 14 found dumping waste in Sidhwan canal; six fined

On Wednesday, a resident of Abdullapur Basti threw ultramarine blue, a cloth cleaning agent, in Sidhwan canal and after being caught, he told the MC staff that an astrologer had advised him that throwing the cleaning agent in flowing water would fix his back pains

As many as 14 people were found dumping waste in Sidhwan canal on Thursday despite strict checks put in place by the city administration to keep the water body clean.

As many as 14 people were found dumping waste in Sidhwan canal on Thursday despite strict checks put in place by the city administration to keep the water body clean. (HT file photo)

Six people have been fined ₹5,000 each for throwing waste in the water body, taking the total number of those challaned for polluting the canal to 69.

On Wednesday, a resident of Abdullapur Basti threw Ultramarine Blue, a cloth cleaning agent, in the canal. After being caught, he told the MC staff that he said that an astrologer had told him that throwing the cleaning agent in flowing water would fix his back pains.

The municipal corporation is also recommending FIRs against violators.

Municipal corporation commissioner Shena Aggarwal said that residents should understand their responsibility to keep the water bodies clean and they should stop dumping waste in the canal.

She said that the canal is being cleaned by the MC, but residents are still dumping waste in the water body. MC teams have been deployed for surveillance.

Later during the day, MC chief Aggarwal and MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi also visited the canal to inspect the progress of the cleaning work near Bhai Randhir Singh (BRS) nagar canal bridge on Thursday.

Directing the authorities to expedite the work to clean the canal, MLA Gogi appealed the residents to stop dumping waste in the canal.

MC zonal commissioner (Zone D), Jasdev Singh Sekhon stated a large portion of the canal starting from BRS Nagar canal bridge till Gill road canal bridge has been cleaned and machinery has now been deployed to clean the remaining portion.

Local bodies minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar had kick started the work to clean the Sidhwan canal from BRS Nagar canal bridge on January 4.

The minister had also started the project to install chain linked iron fencing (2-meter height) along the 13 km stretch of the canal within the city limits on January 4 to stop residents from dumping waste into the canal.