Buddha Nullah water not even fit for irrigation, admits PPCB
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 19
In a shocking revelation, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has admitted that the water flowing in the Buddha Nullah was not even fit for irrigation purposes.
It was a step ahead of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) terming the Sutlej tributary water quality sub-standard.
The development assumes significance as the highly-polluted Buddha Nullah, a seasonal tributary of the Sutlej flowing in Ludhiana, to turn into Buddha river seems unending even as the Rs 840-crore project has been almost completed but not before missing at least seven deadlines.
With civic body officials claiming that 99 per cent work on the ongoing rejuvenation project was already complete, the ambitious project’s impact is yet to be seen.
In a status report filed through environmental engineer Gurmit Singh before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a copy of which is with The Tribune, the PPCB submitted that in compliance with the NGT order, it had collected water samples from various locations of the Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana on January 19.
“The collected samples were analysed for quality with respect to parameters prescribed for treatment of sewage as well as industrial effluents,” it said while submitting that the examination of the analysis report has revealed that the concentration of different parameters of water flowing into the nullah are more than the prescribed standards for the sewage treatment plant (STP), thus making the water not fit for irrigation with respect to parameters such as coliform, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
The state environmental body further submitted that about 315 dyeing units were operating in areas of the district, of which about 265 units fall in the catchment area of the nullah, which originates in Koom Kalan village of Ludhiana and runs parallel to the Sutlej on its south till the nullah joins the river at Walipur Kalan village in Ludhiana.
“For the treatment of wastewater of the dyeing industries, three common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) of total capacity 105 MLD have been installed in Ludhiana by special purpose vehicles (SPVs),” said the PPCB while submitting details regarding dyeing cluster, capacity of CETPs, sites of installation, technology with name of SPV and existing member units.
The NGT had taken a suo motu cognisance of a media report highlighting the pollution in the water body.
Earlier, the CPCB had submitted that the water quality data of the nullah was compared with the general effluent discharge standards and the analysis revealed that the water quality was not complying with the BOD, COD and total suspended solids (TSS).
“The analysis results of the Sutlej upstream and downstream of the nullah were compared with the primary water quality criteria for outdoor bathing and it was observed that the Sutlej downstream of the nullah was found non-complying with respect to the criteria,” CPCB scientist Vishal Gandhi had said.
He had further submitted that the comparative analysis of water quality of the nullah and Sutlej downstream of the nullah for 2022 and 2024 revealed that concentration of the BOD, COD and TSS has increased from 2022 to 2024.
The first-of-its-type rejuvenation project had already missed at least seven deadlines to complete the capital work after facing teething problems and adversely hit due to Covid restrictions during the initial months after launch in December 2020.
Once completed, the rejuvenation was aimed at shedding the infamous tag of “nullah” from one of the most polluted water bodies, running almost parallel to the Sutlej through most of Ludhiana district, including 14-km in Ludhiana city, which it bisects into two parts, before merging with the river.
Ambitious project
The first-of-its-type rejuvenation project had already missed at least seven deadlines to complete the capital work after facing teething problems and adversely hit due to Covid restrictions during the initial months after launch in December 2020.
