Balloke STP not working at full capacity: Seechewal

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 21

Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal visited the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Balloke here to check its functioning. After the visit, he said the treatment plant was not functioning at its full capacity. A section of 152 MLD capacity was not functioning at all and the one with 105 MLD capacity was only treating 35 per cent of the water.

“In fact four of the eight motor pumps installed there were not working and just one was operational, and three were started before we arrived there,” he added.

Even the partially treated water was being put back in the nullah, instead of making it fit for irrigation purpose, thus causing sheer wastage of resources.

He said though the government had announced increasing the capacity of the sewage treatment plants, but the ones already there needed to be made fully functional.

He said due to release of industrial effluents into the Buddha Nullah, countless innocent people were suffering. An area along 1,000-km stretch, going till Rajasthan, was affected due to polluted water and people were dying of cancer, he said.

Seechewal said treating water after release of effluents and sewage in the Buddha Nullah was pointless because the sources of pollution needed to be plugged, and no effluents, sewage and solid waste must be released into it.

He also held a meeting with PPCB Chairman Kahan Singh Pannu later. Pannu said though the municipal body had been notified about it, but the paucity of funds with the Municipal Corporation was stifling the functioning of treatment plants, as there were no funds to pay the electricity bills and repair damaged machinery. “There have been meetings with the Chief Secretary and officials in this regard. A plan to mobilise the resources of municipal corporations is being worked out, which will be finalised soon,” he added.

Seechewal and Pannu also discussed the proposed implementation of “Seechewal model” for cleaning of water bodies in the state. It was discussed that to begin with, the model would be implemented in one village in every block of all districts.