156 outlets still polluting Buddha Nullah, finds govt survey

In what appears to be an official admission, a latest government survey has found at least 156 outlets, which were still polluting the Buddha Nullah, one of the most polluted tributaries of the Sutlej, passing through Ludhiana before it confluences with the Sutlej and enters Rajasthan.

The survey was conducted by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and its report was submitted before the high-level joint group of experts and senior officials from both Centre and Punjab, formed by the Union Government, for carrying out a time-bound action plan to clean and preserve the Sutlej tributary.

The development assumes significance as the state government had in December 2020 launched an ambitious project to rejuvenate the Buddha Nullah at the cost of Rs 840 crore but even after spending almost the entire corpus and lapse of over four years, the Sutlej tributary still remains polluted.

“The DWR has identified 156 total outlets, including drains, which comprise all small and large outlets within and beyond the MC limits, during the mapping and identification of polluting points across the nullah,” DWR Superintending Engineer (SE) Amrinder Singh Pandher apprised the panel.

He submitted that these include outlets for domestic effluents, village ponds, dairies, households, storm water, CETPs and STPs.

Giving bifurcation of these outlets, he said 96 outlets were found on the upstream, three on the downstream and 57 within the city reach.

However, contrary to it, Municipal Corporation (MC) Chief Engineer (CE) Ravinder Garg informed the group that the civic body had identified 42 outlets within the MC limits while submitting that a majority of these outlets were from dairy complexes.

He said with the closure of the gau ghat outlet, the majority of the domestic effluents was diverted to STPs. However, three major outlets and some minor discharge points, with estimated 20-25 MLD flow, were yet to be plugged and to be connected with the STPs.

The civic body CE assured the panel that all points would be plugged by June 30.

He said one of the outlets was storm water under the GLADA jurisdiction and it has to be plugged and diverted to the STP in Jamalpur by the GLADA.

To a specific query from committee members, officers from the DWR said discharge from the majority of the outlets was not only meagre but also intermittent and thus, difficult to measure.

On this, members from the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorke, and National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) suggested that the discharge from such outlets could be measured through crude methods such as bucket estimations. For bigger discharges emanating from village outlets, drains and STP outlets, experts advised to adopt a V-notch method, besides making population-based estimations according to the per capita basis to estimate the discharges.

Observing that the outlets reported by the DWR and MC were still not in consonance, the committee chairperson, Manish Kumar, Director, Environment and Climate Change, emphasised that these should not vary and directed that the data presented by both agencies should be reconciled.

“A number of outlets of the Buddha Nullah upstream, downstream and within the MC limits shall be freezed and the DWR would convey the same to the committee,” he instructed.

The panel also asked the departments concerned such as the MC, PWSSB, DWR and DRDP to jointly carry out flow measurements of the wastewater being discharged through various outlets into the nullah.

The DWR was asked to coordinate and submit the action-taken report to the committee within 15 days.

Group to diagnose, evaluate, suggest action

In November last, the Union Government had come out with an action plan to clean and preserve the nullah.

The time-bound joint action plan, which had been launched in collaboration with the state government, entails diagnosis of issues concerning persisting pollution in the Buddha Nullah, evaluation of the existing pollution abatement infrastructure to ensure optimisation and corrective actions in order of priority.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti had constituted a high-level joint group of experts and senior officials from the Centre and Punjab to carry out the action plan.

The Centre had nominated the Executive Director (Technical) of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Member Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Scientist F (Senior Technical Director) of the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) and Scientist F or Director of the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, as its nominees/ representatives for the joint panel.

The Punjab Government had named Director Environment and Climate Change Manish Kumar as Chairman and nominated PPCB member secretary GS Majithia as member secretary, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) Chief Engineer Mukesh Garg, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Paramjit Khaira, Ludhiana District Industries Centre General Manager, Chief Engineers of Water Resources, Soil and Water Conservation, Water Supply and Sanitation departments, PEDA Director, and Ludhiana ADC (Development), as members of the group. Besides, representatives of the Industries Association and experts also would be nominated in the due course of time.

Acting swiftly, the state government had notified the 13-member group and had given a go-ahead to undertake the action as outlined in the Centre’s plan.

The group had been given liberty to co-opt any other member, if it deems fit during the course of its deliberations.