Ludhiana: Panchayats of 40 villages up in arms against state govt
The residents of area near Walipur Kalan village, where the Buddha Nullah merges with the Sutlej River, say the industrial effluents present in the water would pollute the groundwater and harm their crops; according to the information available, officials of the drainage department have been conducting surveys in the area for the past couple of days, which sent alarm bells ringing among the locals
The panchayats of around 40 villages in Ludhiana and Moga districts are up in arms against the state government over what they say are the latter’s plans to divert the water output of common effluent treatment plants (CETP) towards irrigation.
The residents of area near Walipur Kalan village, where the Buddha Nullah merges with the Sutlej River, say the industrial effluents present in the water would pollute the groundwater and harm their crops.
According to the information available, officials of the drainage department have been conducting surveys in the area for the past couple of days, which sent alarm bells ringing among the locals.
Walipur Kalan sarpanch (village head) Karnail Kaur said, “We oppose the irrigation plan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for our villages. The drainage department officials have landed in the area for surveys. We made it clear to them that we will oppose the move. The polluted water of Buddha Nullah has already polluted the underground water and that is causing serious diseases in our area.
“Instead of giving any relief from this pollution, the government plans to irrigate our lands with the polluted water to make our lands and crops even more toxic. We will not let that happen as it will destroy the future of our area and that of our children,” she added.
The villagers said officials had come to their area in July last year as well and they got together in protest, which had delayed the move.
The agitators said they plan to form a coalition of the 40 villagers to oppose the move.
They said they will knock on the doors of high court and the National Green Tribunal, if needed.
