Naroa Manch members visit Battian STP, slam pollution body’s claims over Buddha Nullah pollution

In April, PPCB had claimed that there is not much reduction in the level of pollution in the waterbody amid the lockdown

Members of Naroa Punjab Manch and Bhai Ghanaiya Cancer Roko Seva Society, Faridkot, on Saturday visited Bhattian sewage treatment plant (STP) and slammed the Punjab Pollution Control Board’s (PPCB’s) claims of “minimal improvement” in the pollution level of Buddha Nullah due to the closure of factories amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Members of Naroa Punjab Manch with the water samples collected from Bhattian treatment plant in Ludhiana on Saturday. (HT Photo)

The members rued that it was clearly visible that the pollution level has decreased drastically and said they would ask the monitoring committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to conduct sampling of the waterbody at this time and check the presence of heavy metals in it.

Naroa Punjab Manch president Gurpreet Singh Chandbaja said, “As the recent reports of PPCB are contradictory, we are demanding that the NGT monitoring committee should conduct sampling to detect heavy metals in the nullah.” Asserting that the darkness of waste water has reduced drastically both at the inlet and outlet point of the plant suggesting that the pollution has reduced, he said, “After the NGT committee conducts sampling of the nullah, its reports can be compared with the sample reports that come out once the industry restarts its operations. Everything will become clear then.”

The PPCB had, in the month of April, claimed that there is not much reduction in the level of pollution in the waterbody amid the lockdown.