Minister visits Buddha Nullah, reviews kar sewa

Local Government Minister Ravjot Singh inspected the kar sewa being spearheaded by environmentalist-turned-parliamentarian Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal to clean the Buddha Nullah near Gaughat Gurdwara here.

He was accompanied by Municipal Corporation Commissioner Aaditya Dachewal and offficials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Rajya Sabha MP Seechewal complemented Ravjot for visiting the place three times in the past less than a fortnight to review the ongoing public service to clean and preserve the highly polluted Sutlej tributary and restore it to its erstwhile pristine state.

He said the minister’s visits had made it clear that he was concerned about the environment and serious about steps being taken in this direction.

Seechewal apprised the minister that 70 per cent of the work started for the alternative arrangement of the pumping station had been completed. “In the next few days, motors will be installed here and dirty water of the city will start reaching the treatment plant,” he said.

Ravjot said the state government was committed to cleaning and preserving the Buddha Nullah and restoring the erstwhile state of the Buddha Dariya.

Appreciating the kar sewa being spearheaded by Seechewal, he said the operation of the pumping station would help in reducing pollution in the Sutlej tributary. He assured that panels and electricity connections provided by the administration for the work would be made available as soon as possible.

Later, the minister and Seechewal were presented a demonstration by the officials concerned regarding the working of treatment plants of Ludhiana, which were facing major threat from cow dung being flushed from dairies and the untreated industrial waste.

The minister issued strict instructions to the officials concerned to stop the flow of untreated water into the nullah.

Both of them asked the officials to make the treatment plants efficient and take action against those damaging the machinery through illegal discharge into them. “The treatment plants had been set up with the help of public money and any damage to them will not be tolerated at any cost,” they asserted.