Activists call for collective, industrial action to rejuvenate Buddha Nullah

A resolute gathering of environmentalists, social reformers and green activists convened near the 225 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) on Jail Road, Ludhiana, as part of the Phase-1 of Buddha Darya Padyatra-8 (BDP-8). This initiative is part of a broader grassroots movement to restore the Buddha Dariya and protect the subsoil water reserves and the larger Satluj River System from industrial and civic pollution.

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While a visible reduction in sludge and foul odour suggests that the recent clean-up operations have had a modest impact, the river remains critically endangered due to three major discharge points—40 MLD CETP, Focal Point, PDA industrial units; 50 MLD CETP, Tajpur, PDA cluster; and 225 MLD STP, Jail Road—that

continue to flout environmental regulations.

PAC members said all three units were blatantly violating the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) norms, as mandated by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), by releasing untreated and chemically toxic effluents into the nullah. These discharges contain heavy metals and synthetic dyes, contaminating the ecosystem and posing serious health risks to the residents of Punjab and downstream Rajasthan—particularly those dependent on Satluj waters, Indira Gandhi Canals (IGCs) and the Gang Canal System, they added.

Once a revered natural watercourse, Buddha Dariya is now a hazardous drain of chemical waste, symbolising regulatory failure and industrial apathy. The stream’s degeneration is not merely an environmental issue—it is a public health emergency and a developmental crisis.

The river’s role in floodplain ecology, subsoil water recharge and biodiversity support has been catastrophically undermined. Immediate and coordinated action is essential—not as a policy option but as a moral imperative, said Maninderjit Singh Benipal, Finance Secretary, PAC.