Seechewal grills officials over sewage flow into Budha Dariya

Rajya Sabha member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, who has been leading a voluntary campaign to clean and restore the Budha Dariya, while expressing strong displeasure summoned certain officials responsible for failing to stop the flow of polluted water into the Dariya right at the spot where the dirty water was being discharged.

During a meeting held on November 7, officials of the MC, Sewerage Board and Khilari organisation claimed that the Gau Ghat pumping station was functioning continuously and that the waste water was being properly treated at the 225 MLD plant.

However, shortly after the meeting, the Rajya Sabha member paid a surprise visit to Gau Ghat, where he found that all water-pumping motors had been shut down and the toxic sewage was flowing directly into the Dariya.

Seechewal criticised the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner and the MC Commissioner, stating that administrative negligence was tarnishing the image of Punjab Government.

He demanded strict action against the officials who had misled the meeting with false claims.

Seechewal pointed out that the Sewerage Board and the MC had been protecting each other to escape accountability. Bringing both departments face-to-face before the media, he questioned, “Who gave you the right to poison the people?” He vowed to expose all those involved in the conspiracy to pollute the Budha Dariya.

Initially, the Sewerage Board and the MC continued to blame each other, but faced with the firm stance of Sant Seechewal, both departments ultimately admitted their fault and began working to correct it.

Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials attributed the primary failure to choked sewer lines, preventing flow to the new pumping station. They stated that while the new station was operational, the blockages stopped the sewage from reaching it, thus preventing it from being routed to the Jamalpur Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).