Authorities take action against canal pollution, 355 cases registered

To address the critical issue of canal pollution, Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, on Thursday, said as many as 355 cases had been registered against violators.

Replying to a query raised by MLA Naresh Puri during Question Hour, the minister said in action against pollution of drains and canals, the department had identified 492 points across the state. He said people were indiscriminately disposing of waste not just on canal banks but directly into canal waters. This issue is particularly pronounced in urban areas and certain rural regions, posing a significant threat to water quality, especially given that canal water serves both irrigation and drinking purposes. He said the measures include implementing strict legal actions, such as imposing fines under Section 70 of Northern India Canal and Drainage Act and filing FIRs against offenders under Section 279 of the BNS.

He said that to ensure accountability, necessary disciplinary action is recommended against erring government officials such as executive officers in urban areas and BDPO in rural areas. To discourage people from throwing garbage in canals, he said the department had issued NOC to install wire mesh at the banks of Sidwan canal passing through city. Similar works can be executed in other parts of the state.

Permission from PWRDA mandatory for industrial, commercial, institutional and healthcare units extracting over 300 cubic meter groundwater per month  

The Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority (PWRDA) has issued guidelines that it is mandatory for all industrial, commercial, institutional and healthcare units extracting more than 300 cubic meter per month groundwater to obtain permission from PWRDA. Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said inspection teams comprising of government officers may inspect all such units to identify unauthorised groundwater extraction. Non-compliance charges (NCC), including groundwater compensation charges (GCC) will be imposed on such units operating without valid permission.

1. Pargat Singh seeks probe into fake website to defame farmers and activistsMLA Pagat Singh quoted a media report while seeking a House committee to probe a fake media outlet. ‘The first Punjab’ that uses two sites ‘fans of Deep Sidhu’ and ‘Sujhwan Punjab’ were being run by one Mukesh Vohra, a former fellow with the Delhi Assembly Research Centre from 2019 to 2022. The website was being used to defame farmers, Punjabis, activists and journalists and run false propaganda against Punjabis.
2. BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma quotes video of AAPs MLA from J&KAshwani Sharma drew attention of the House to a video in which AAP MLA from Jammu and Kashmir Mehraj Malik was stating that chitta was coming to J&K from Punjab and linked it to the mining mafia.
3. Recruitment for 52 labour inspectors under processIn response to a question raised by Principal Budh Ram, the minister informed the House that the recruitment process for 52 labour inspectors is currently in progress and is expected to be completed soon.
4. Suvidha Kendra working at 'rocket speed'Days after AAP leader Manish Sisodia said the AAP government would work at “rocket speed”, many ministers and AAP MLA were heard referring to the terminology in praising the works of the government.
5. Speaker sees opportunity to raise issue concerning his constituencyKultar Singh Sandhwan seen raising issues pertaining to his constituency with the ministers during the question hour.
6. MLA Kuljit Randhawa uses puadhi accent to raise issue pertaining to Dera BassiDera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa used Puadhi accent to highlight the demand for digital libraries for his area, as complained about Malwa and Majha being given the digital libraries.