E-Paper
Ludhiana: Dairy waste destroying STPs, says Seechewal
Seechewal took serious note of the illegal encroachments in the Haibowal Dairy Complex as well; he pointed out that a major issue is the excessive inflow of wastewater into the treatment plants
Rajya Sabha MP and environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal conducted an inspection of the sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Haibowal and Balloke here on Wednesday. Expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of these plants, Seechewal said strict action must be taken against those operating the plants below required standards. He also emphasised that challans should be issued to dairy owners who are discharging cow dung directly into the sewage system.
Seechewal took serious note of the illegal encroachments in the Haibowal Dairy Complex as well. He pointed out that a major issue is the excessive inflow of wastewater into the treatment plants. For instance, the Haibowal plant is receiving around 5 MLD (million litres per day) of water, even though its capacity is only 3.75 MLD. Similarly, the Tajpur plant has a capacity of 2.25 MLD but is receiving over 4.5 MLD.
During his visit to the Haibowal cow dung treatment plant, he said the stench in the surrounding area was so severe that it became difficult to even stand there. Giving instructions to run the STPs properly, Seechewal asked officials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to submit monthly reports in the Budha Nullah review meetings. He noted that all the waste from the drain in the Haibowal Dairy Complex area was flowing into the Budha Nullah, including the liquid waste (urine and wash water) from nearly 60 dairies.
Later, during a meeting held at the 225 MLD STP, Seechewal once again expressed his disappointment with the officials and remarked that no one is ready to take responsibility. He questioned why common citizens have to bear the consequences of the negligence of government officers. He added that people in the Malwa region and even in Rajasthan are suffering from diseases like cancer, unaware that contaminated water is one of the main causes.
Additional commissioner of MC Parmdeep Singh Khaira, PPCB supervising engineer Kuldeep Singh, DDPO Dalwinder Kaur, Hardev Singh, Bhukhri Khurd village Sarpanch Satpal Singh, and other departmental officers present in the meeting.
Seechewal shared that the treatment plants in Ludhiana were installed with the aim of preventing untreated wastewater from entering the Budha Nullah. However, the heavy inflow of cow dung from dairies in Haibowal and Tajpur is overwhelming these facilities, rendering multi-crore installations ineffective.
Balloke has three treatment plants, with capacities of 152 MLD, 105 MLD, and 60 MLD respectively. Cow dung from dairies is freely entering these plants without any monitoring or restriction. Around ₹9 crore has been spent on the CBG (compressed biogas) plant in Haibowal, yet its performance remains unsatisfactory. Meanwhile, ₹16 crore has been spent on the repair of the Balloke plants. In many areas, mischievous elements have illegally broken the sewage pipelines and connected them directly to the drainage system, bypassing all legal procedures.
