Review meet: PPCB, MC pulled up for ‘inaction’ on Buddha Nullah

Ludhiana: In the Buddha Nullah review meeting on Wednesday, the Congress MP Ravneet Bittu pulled up the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) as well as the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) over the continued pollution in the water body.
The district environment committee on Wednesday held a meeting in Bachat Bhawan here to review the ongoing works under the Buddha Dariya Rejuvenation Project. Bittu chaired the meeting, while Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were also present, where the PPCB and the MC officials were questioned about the continued discharge of industrial waste into the Buddha Nullah.
The Congress MP also asked the PPCB officials to clarify whether polluted water from dairies and dyeing units was still being discharged into the drain, and asked the department why it was not doing enough to stop it.
The MP also condemned the officials for their “carelessness in catching hold of defaulting units resulting in the death of 11 people in the Giaspura gas leak tragedy on April 30”.
He even went on to condemn the “lethargic attitude” of the Board officials in acting against the scattered dyeing units, which still haven’t made any arrangements to dispose of their waste. However, the PPCB officials clarified that no decision had been made about such units, so far.
AAP MLAs threaten to take up matter with CM
The AAP legislators also pointed out the “careless attitude” of the officials, and warned to raise the issue with chief minister Bhagwant Mann in the next meeting.
AAP MLAs including Gurpreet Gogi, Madan Lal Bagga and Ashok Prashar, also complained that they did not get any proceedings report after any of the review meetings, and asked the officials to ensure copies of the same were submitted to them. They added they had only received the progress reports on from the private firm hired for the works, and said they would take up the issue with the CM in the next meeting as the departments were not submitting any reports.
Besides, Gogi said the reason the drain wasn’t being cleaned up was that the MC and the PPCB were not working in coordination with each other.
‘Rajasthan MPs flag water body pollution’
While taking a dig at the MC and PPCB officials, Bittu claimed that while the officials were responsible for the delay, the elected representatives had to face ire from the public. He said, “When I attend Parliament sessions, the Rajasthan MPs ask me about pollution in the Buddha Dariya... The polluted water from Buddha Dariya affects at least eight villages in Rajasthan.”