Deadline to stop effluent flow into Kali Bein extended, again

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 1

The special monitoring committee, set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) under Justice Pritam Pal (retd), has given time till August 31 to various departments to ensure the stoppage of effluent flowing into the holy Kali Bein.

The committee, formed to check the menace of river pollution in a time-bound manner, today pulled up officials of the municipal bodies of Jalandhar and Kapurthala for failing to stop discharge of toxic effluents into the Kali Bein.

Notably, this is the umpteenth time that the monitoring committee has further extended the deadline to stop the sewage flow discharge into the rivulet. For years, instructions regarding the same to the municipal bodies have gone unheeded. Earlier this year, April 10 had been fixed as the deadline to stop dumping of wastes into the Kali Bein and the Kala Sangian drain.

While officers were asked to stop the effluent flow till August 31, the committee has also announced an on-the-spot inspection of the Kali Bein in September.

Sources and experts on sewerage discharge had already stated that the sophisticated technology to effectively rid river waters of all toxic waters and the water treatment technology needed to do so could only be fully available by 2022 (by updating all old sewage treatment plants). That too can only be achieved if funds are released in a time-bound manner as per the deadline.

In a meeting held at the local Circuit House, the committee head, along with members, including former Punjab Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal, environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal and Babu Ram, said besides plugging holes from places where untreated water was pumped into the Kala Sanghian drain and subsequently to the Bein, the administrations of both districts must also ensure that the treated water was used for irrigation purposes.

The committee said more and more farmers must be encouraged to use the water for agricultural purposes.

It also batted for expediting the work on the construction of two new STPs in Kapurthala with four and one MLD capacity, respectively. It also asked officers to ensure timely de-silting and cleanliness of pipes of the existing sewage treatment plants, adding that the chlorination of the STPs need to be done at regular intervals.

The committee underlined the need for adhering to action plan for the cleanliness of the Bein. The members said any sort of deviation from the action plan would be dealt with sternly.

Officiating Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh, Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner DPS Kharbanda, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Diprava Lakra, MC Joint Commissioner Aashika Jain, Assistant Commissioner Varjeet Walia were among those others present.