Ensure early completion of dairy shifting project: DC to civic body

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 15

About one-and-a-half years after the forced shifting of dairy farmers was put on halt on September 30, 2021, by the then Charanjit Singh Channi-led state government, the Municipal Corporation has failed to complete its dairy shifting project at Ablowal village outside the city.

The Deputy Commissioner today visited the site to oversee the works related to the project, which have been pending since long.

Municipal Joint Commissioner Naman Markan said: “After visiting the site, the DC has issued instructions to all departments concerned to complete the project. We have completed plotting and other infrastructure while other works are going on. The gaushala, veterinary clinic and the site for feed are almost ready. The establishment of the effluent treatment plant (ETP) is being done. We are confident that the gaushala will be completed within 15 days.”

The project has been pending since long and its incompletion has been adding to the woes of the city’s sewerage system as presently, milk dairies are distributed throughout the city.

The civic body had planned the project of shifting milk dairies from within the city to the an outer location to benefit the city’s sewerage system.

For this, the MC splurged Rs 18 crore from public funds and completed most parts of the project, but has failed to make a headway since the forced shifting of dairy farmers was put on halt in September 2021.

The MC has held a number of camps for dairy farmers to help them seek bank loans to establish their set-ups at the new site at Ablowal village.

In fact, the works of an over-head water reservoir and an effluent treatment plant (ETP) are still going on at the site.

While a number of farmers had agreed to shift to the site, others have decided to shift elsewhere.

While the MC has been delaying the completion of the project, sections from within the civic body, including former Mayor Sanjeev Sharma, have been repeatedly demanding the early completion of the project for the benefit of the city.

Putting pressure on sewerage system

The project has been pending for a long time and failure on part of the authorities to complete it has added to the pressure on city’s sewerage system, as dairies are located throughout the city. The civic body had come up with the plan to shift dairies from within the city to an outer location in a bid to ease pressure on city’s ailing sewerage system.

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