Polluted drain causes epidemic scare

LUDHIANA: Living under the threat of hepatitis and other health problems panchayat members and residents of Gaunspur village situated on the banks of highly polluted Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana have written to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to do the needful

Updated At : 12:52 PM Jun 05, 2019 IST

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 4

Living under the threat of hepatitis and other health problems, panchayat members and residents of Gaunspur village, situated on the banks of highly polluted Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana, have written to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to do the needful.

The panchayat members said factories and Buddha Nullah were behind the contamination of groundwater in their village. They claimed that several villagers had died due to hepatitis, while many were still suffering from the disease. They believed that the reason behind the spread of hepatitis was polluted water. However, the exact cause is yet to be ascertained.

Village sarpanch Sukhdev Singh said: “The polluted Buddha Nullah passes through our village. Industrial waste is dumped into it. We have written to the Chief Minister to pay attention to the issue. Doctors told us that the cause of hepatitis is polluted water.”

“Seven members of a family died of hepatitis. Then there are those who are undergoing treatment, As many as 12 person have lost their lives so far. We have complained to the department concerned many times, but to no avail. We requested the CM to get the RO system installed in the village, but haven’t got any response,” he said.

The villagers said a number of factories had been set up along the Buddha Nullah. “We came to know from sources that industrial waste is either dumped into the nullah” the panchayat members alleged. “Waste dumped along the nullah catches fire at times,” Major Singh, a villager, said.