Test water samples in Sutlej, Beas, Buddha Nullah: NGT

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Servi9ce

New Delhi, May 24

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to conduct  tests to determine the quality of  water in the Beas, the Sutlej and the Buddha Nullah and submit a report within six weeks.

Three AAP MLAs, including Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira, had on Wednesday jointly petitioned the tribunal on the matter. The NGT asked for separate reports on the Beas, the Sutlej and  the nullah. The case will now come up for hearing on July 17. The NGT specifically mentioned that the samples be collected at sites cited in the petition.

 According to the petitioners, the Buddha Nullah, that merges with the Sutlej at Balipur village in Ludhiana, contaminates the river water with Ludhiana’s industrial waste, medical waste and untreated sewerage.

Tribunal’s Acting Chairman Justice Jawad Rahim declined the PPCB  plea to dismiss the  petition on the grounds  that it was politically motivated and ignored the counsel’s reference to the Shahkot byelection. 

The tribunal issued notices to Rana Sugars Ltd and Chadha Sugar Mill Industries for allegedly discharging industrial waste into the Sutlej.

 The AAP MLAs allege that Rana Sugars Ltd, owned by Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh, a former minister, has been discharging poisonous chemicals into a drain close by, thereby polluting the Beas. Chadha Sugar Mill, they claim, is owned by  a relative of a functionary in the CMO.

Talking to the media later, Khaira said: “The Chief Minister is shielding industrialists and moneybags rather than protecting human lives and the aquatic ecosystem.”