STP upgrade on cards, tenders to be floated soon

Tribune News Service

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Ludhiana, November 9

With Buddha Nullah polluting the Sutlej River for a long time, MC’s three sewerage treatment plants (STPs) are yet to be upgraded. However, the officials claimed that the tenders for the project to upgrade the three existing STPs were likely to be floated by the end of this month.

According to the information, three sewerage treatment plants — 161 MLD STP at Bhattian, 48 MLD STP at Jamalpur and 257 MLD STP at Balloke — are not sufficient to treat the entire sewage waste of the city. The polluted water is being released in the Buddha Nullah, further polluting the Sutlej for past some decades.

Residents have been demanding from the government to stop pollution in the nullah for a long time. MC Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh said there was a plan to upgrade these STPs at the earliest. “The process is on to prepare the details for the upgrade of STPs. The tenders to upgrade the three STPs will be floated soon,” he said.

In June, the Punjab Pollution Control Board had directed the MC to deposit environmental compensation as the civic body had failed to ensure proper functioning of its three sewerage treatment plants. The PPCB had also moved court against the MC for discharging waste into the Buddha Nullah and Sutlej.

In August, Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu accused the PPCB for ignoring industries, which discharge untreated waste into MC’s sewer lines thus damaging the STPs.