Ludhiana: A group of retired bureaucrats, police officers, and army veterans from the Kirti Kisan Forum has written to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, demanding quick action to address the pollution in the Buddha Nullah (Buddha Dariya). The forum called for implementing Punjab Pollution Control Board’s orders for shutting the untreated-waste outlets of common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) along Tajpur Road.
The PPCB’s directives, is based on what the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had recommended more than a month ago. They demanded an inquiry into the reasons behind the delay in its implementation and if official negligence had allowed untreated chemical waste to continue polluting the water.
The forum suggests that this pollution affects the drinking and irrigation water for more than 2 crore people in Punjab and Rajasthan. They said the toxic contamination of the Buddha Nullah and the Satluj river over four decades has caused cancer and hepatitis among communities living downstream. Buddha Dariya is Satluj’s tributary.
Activists from the Kale Pani Da Morcha have engaged with residents near Tajpur Road’s dyeing units, requesting them to join a Dec 3 programme of forcing the authorities concerned into halting pollution. They said the sullied channel remained the only source of drinking water for many, as groundwater had also become unfit. The Kirti Kisan Forum warned against any more delays in executing the PPCB’s orders.
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