Punjab accuses Chandigarh of polluting Ghaggar river

The Punjab government Monday accused the union territory of Chandigarh of polluting Ghaggar river in the state by discharging untreated municipal waste and industrial effluents into seasonal rivulets and drains, which ultimately merge into the river.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would take up the matter of heavy discharge of industrial effluents and domestic waste into the drains with Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, who is also the administrator of the union territory, to seek his intervention for taking effective steps to prevent the reckless discharge of effluents and waste, a state government spokesman said here.

Punjab has pointed out that the discharge was aggravating pollution in the river and was posing a major health hazard.

The decision to take up the matter with the UT Administrator was taken at a high-level meeting to review the progress of Ghaggar river cleaning project.

"According to the mapping undertaken by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), various industrial and domestic sewer outlets within the jurisdiction of Chandigarh were resulting in heavy pollution of river Ghaggar with about 2MLD discharge of untreated waste water.

"These sewer outlets included IT Park, Kishangarh, Bhagwanpura, Shastri Nagar, Bapu Dham Colony, Madrasi Colony and Hallomajra," the spokesman said here.

Badal said that he would urge Chandigarh authorities to put proper treatment mechanism in place before discharging the waste water in the Sukhna Choe (seasonal rivulet) which ultimately pollutes the Ghaggar river.