Punjab accuses Himachal of polluting Ghaggar river

After asking authorities in Chandigarh to curb pollution of Ghaggar river, the Punjab government has now accused Himachal Pradesh of polluting the river through industrial and domestic discharge.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Monday urged his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Virbhadra Singh's personal intervention "for jointly putting up an effective monitoring mechanism in place for cleaning the river Ghaggar".

In a letter to the Himachal Pradesh chief minister, Badal apprised him about the deterioration of water quality of Ghaggar in Punjab. He pointed out that it has been brought to his notice that sewerage waste was being discharged into rivulets and drains in Himachal Pradesh which later joined the Ghaggar.

"The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has conducted a survey of Ghaggar to check various sources of pollution entering it. It has been observed that untreated or partially treated industrial effluents and sewage from Nahan, Parwanoo and Kala Amb areas enter into Ghaggar through various streams and drains which were a major source of contamination of Ghaggar water," Badal said in the letter.

Badal urged the Himachal Pradesh chief minister to issue directions to officers of concerned departments in the hill state to take immediate steps to check the discharge of untreated and partially treated domestic and industrial waste into the river.

The Punjab chief minister emphasized the need to evolve a joint monitoring mechanism, comprising the officers of the departments concerned from both the states, for preparing a time bound joint action plan to check and control pollution in Ghaggar.

He urged Virbhadra Singh for a joint meeting in Shimla to find a permanent solution to this issue.