Buddha nullah pollution: Vested political interests and bureaucratic delays major hurdle, says STF member
A member of the special task force (STF) formed by the state government, Col JS Gill (retd) has cited vested political interests and bureaucratic delays as major reasons behind the delays in getting the pollution under control; he also wrote a letter to governor Banwarilal Purohit, Gill raising doubts over the ₹650 crore-project to clean the Nullah
Buddha Nullah finds itself at the centre of discussions ahead of the assembly elections as a member of the special task force (STF) formed by the state government, Col JS Gill (retd) has cited vested political interests and bureaucratic delays as major reasons behind the delays in getting the pollution under control.
In a letter written to governor Banwarilal Purohit, Gill raised doubts over the ₹650 crore-project to clean the Nullah, saying the project will not bear fruits until dairy units—the main contributor for waste—are shifted outside city limits.
A copy of the letter has also been marked to the chief secretary and the election commissioner of India.
This comes right at the heels of the governing party making tall claims of cleaning the drain under multi-crore project.
He urged the governor to stop the MC from installing effluent treatment plants (ETP) for dealing with dairy waste at Haibowal and Tajpur road complex and direct the authorities to shift the dairy units out of the MC limits.
Highlighting the pollution, he said, “There are hundreds of dairy units in both Haibowal and Tajpur road dairy complex. Even the chairman of the STF, Namdhari sect Chief Satguru Uday Singjh has highlighted in the past that the drain cannot be cleaned until the dairy units are shifted outside the city limits.”
“The MC had also identified vacant land in village Gorsian Kadar Baksh in Sidhwan Bet area, but no final decision has yet been taken on shifting the units. Rather it has come to our knowledge that MC is starting to establish ETP for dealing with dairy waste in the Haibowal and Tajpur road dairy complex. ETPs are not the solution as even then the waste will get into the Nullah in one or another way,” he added.
He said the dairy waste will again damage the new STP and the funds will be wasted, as will the money spent on establishing ETPs.
Meanwhile, mayor Balkar Sandhu said the MC had initiated the process to shift dairy units out of the city, but the residents of Gorsian Kadar Baksh opposed the move to their village.
“We do not have vacant land in the nearby area to shift the dairy unit and the ETPs are being installed to deal with the problem until the units are shifted,” Sandhu said.