Waste from 50 villages still drains into Kali Bein

Gagandeep Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 6

Despite the fact that the Centre has decided to develop around 1,600 villages along the Ganga on the Seechewal model, yet the same model has not been implemented in the state properly for Kali Bein.

The waste water of more than 50 villages still drains into Kali Bein. As many as 28 villages in the Kapurthala district have been directly draining waste water into Kali Bein, whereas waste water of around 25 is drained in the historical rivulet indirectly. A meeting was held today at Kapurthala, which was presided over by the Kapurthala DC, Daljit Singh Mangat, and environmentalist Balbir Singh again raised the same issue. In the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner assured steps to stop the same practice. The DC said with a view stop the same practice, the efforts are being made to install tube-well pump at the village ponds to use the water for agriculture purposes. Speaking on the occasion, PSPCL Superintending Engineer said notices have been issued to 19 villages regarding installing the pumps. The connections for the pumps would be provided soon. Punjab Pollution Control Board Chairman-cum-Coordinator of Holy Bein Project Manpreet Singh Chatwal said he would prepare a report of today’s meeting and share it with Principal Secretary of the CM. The work to install tube-well pumps is said to have been dangling since 2006. “A meeting between CM Parkash Singh Badal and me had taken place in which the CM had assured to resume the same work on priority-basis,” said Seechewal.