Activists threaten to block effluent flow to Buda Nullah on December 3

A group of environmentalists, retired bureaucrats, progressive farmers and social activists have threatened to launch a mass public movement against widespread water pollution and forcibly stop the flow of effluents at the Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana on December 3.

A decision in this regard was taken at a joint discussion held to chalk out an action strategy to stop the rampant pollution in the Sutlej tributary in Chandigarh.

They said the rising incidence of cancer in the Malwa belt, the cancer train running from Bathinda to Bikaner and the spread of other dreaded diseases in villages along the canals of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan were the a result of the acidic waste water being released into one of the oldest water bodies, Buda Nullah, by hundreds of factories in Ludhiana.

Expressing concern over the inaction by the present and successive governments and the enforcement agencies involved, an environmentalist, Colonel Jasjit Gill (retd), who is spearheading a sustained campaign to free Buddha Nullah from widespread pollution , said, “Earlier, the The people of the city used to bathe in the clear water of the water body, which was Buda Dariya, a tributary of the Sutlej, but these uncontrolled dye factories and other chemical industries continued to pour thousands of liters of untreated water into it at various places along its entire length, especially in the municipal limits of Ludhiana, and this chemical cocktail gradually mixed with the Sutlej, turning the Dariya into the Buda Nullah.”

He said that the people of three states were suffering from innumerable diseases due to the use of this water for drinking and irrigation.

“When successive governments did not listen to the voices of people suffering from chemical assault for decades, we approached the NGT and the Punjab Pollution Control Board,” said Kuldeep Singh Khaira, one of the founding members from an NGO, ‘Kale Pani. Da Morcha’, which waged a war against water pollution.

He said that though the NGT prohibits the discharge of dirty water into the water body without cleaning it, untreated water continues to flow into the nullah without any check.

“After mobilizing people, the ‘Kale Pani Da Morcha’ has now decided to stop the chemical-laden polluted water by holding a huge public rally at Tajpur Point on December 3,” said actor and activist Amitoj Mann .

Participating in a special meeting of the Kirti Kisan Forum, the environmentalists and activists informed the forum members about the situation in detail and sought their support. Former union health secretary Swaran Singh Boparai and former Punjab chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh, who were also present, decided to fully support the front.

The meeting also expressed concern over the glut of rice in the state’s mandis due to late procurement.

They urged the state government that instead of rubbing salt in farmers’ wounds, paddy should be procured on time and necessary arrangements should be made with the Union government for issues related to its rise, which have assumed alarming proportions.

Kuljit Singh Sidhu, MS Chahal, Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Gurbir Singh Sandhu, GK Singh Dhaliwal, GS Pandher (all retired IAS officers), Brig MS Dulat (retd), Brig Indermohan Singh (retd), Karamjit Singh Sra, Col Malvinder Singh (retd), Parvinder Singh Waraich, Dharam Dutt Tarnaich and Jarnail Singh were among others present.