Dyeing units’ effluents polluting Ganda Nullah, rue Ludhiana residents

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, April 3

The issue of polluted water in nullahs has remained unresolved in Ludhiana for long. Now, residents are crying foul over a sewage disposal facility along the Shingar Cinema road which has been releasing black-coloured chemical-mixed water of dyeing units along with sewage into the Ganda Nullah. They said the polluted water further flows into the Buddha Nullah, which then merges with the Sutlej.

Scattered dyeing units not connected to Cetps

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Three common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) on Tajpur Road, Focal Point, and Bahadurke Road in Ludhiana city had been established to treat waste water from dyeing units. However, no concrete measures have been taken to address the issue of the scattered dyeing units as these are not connected to any of the treatment plants.

Residents of the area allege that several dyeing units discharge untreated waste water into the sewage lines linked with this disposal facility in the absence of any check by the authorities concerned. Using a pump, a significant volume of untreated waste water from the disposal unit is discharged into the Ganda Nullah every day.

Three common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) on Tajpur Road, Focal Point and Bahadurke Road had been established to treat waste water from dyeing units of these areas. However, no concrete measures have been taken to address the issue of the scattered dyeing units as these are not connected to any of the CETPs.

About six months ago, the Punjab Pollution Control Board recommended the disconnection of the sewer connections for these 33 scattered dyeing units to the Municipal Corporation, yet no action has been taken. Sewerage connections of a number of these units are reportedly linked to the sewage disposal facility on the Shingar Cinema Road.

Former councillor Inder Aggarwal residing in Kashmir Nagar located near Ganda Nullah emphasised that many large dyeing units discharge untreated chemical-laden wastewater into sewer lines connected to the sewage disposal unit on the Shingar Cinema Road. He claimed that thousands of litres of untreated wastewater mixed with sewage are dumped into the Ganda Nullah daily.

Aggarwal further said he had repeatedly alerted the civic authorities in this regard. He stressed the urgent need for strict regulations on industries discharging untreated waste into the sewerage.

Rajinder, a resident on the Shingar Cinema Road, expressed frustration over the prolonged delay in addressing the issue. He urged the government to take decisive action to prevent industries from releasing untreated waste into sewer lines, which often causes them to overflow due to the high volume of water released from dyeing units.

Besides the Ganda Nullah, there are a number of dairy complexes which continue to discharge pollutants into the Buddah Nullah. Officials have claimed that these will be plugged as part of the Buddah Nullah rejuvenation project.

MC’s Executive Engineer Ranbir Singh explained that the construction of an intermediate pumping station on Gaughat Road as part of the rejuvenation project had been halted due to a legal hurdle. Once completed, this station will redirect water released from the sewage disposal unit on the Shingar Cinema Road to the STP, Jamalpur.