Badal directs PPCB to look into halted work on ponds, STPs

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today reviewed the status of ponds and sewerage treatment plants to be built in three districts to check the discharge of untreated water into rivulet 'holy Bein'.
The Chief Minister presided over a meeting here and directed the Chairman, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to personally visit the concerned areas in Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar where the project had been halted due to some technical issues, an official release stated.
He also asked the PPCB Chairman to coordinate with other departments for procurement of land in a few villages in this regard, it said.

Further, Badal directed his Principal Secretary and Principal Secretary of Science, Technology and Environment to hold a meeting with the Deputy Commissioners and environmentalist Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal to resolve all the contentious issues that were causing a blockade to the efforts to clean up 'holy Bein'.
Following a request from Seechewal, the Chief Minister asked the Chairman of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to immediately provide power supply to extract pond water wherever needed, to accomplish the major task without any further delay.
The Chief Minister was apprised in the meeting that out of 28 villages in Kapurthala district, where untreated water was directly flowing into holy Bein, water ponds had been constructed in 23 such villages.

Likewise, ponds had already been constructed in 12 out of total 18 villages in Hoshiarpur district, where untreated water is direct discharged into holy Bein.

During the meeting, the Chairman of PPCB informed that trade effluent sampling of mills of JCT Ltd, Phagwara, Sukhjit Startch & Chemicals and Wahid Sandhar Sugar Mill were carried out and found the concentration of various pollutants were within the limits prescribed by the board.
Badal also asked the Chief Conservator of Soils to issue instructions to the Divisional Soil Conservation Officer, Jalandhar to be in touch with Seechewal before laying the underground pipes in the region.

The Chief Minister also agreed to release Rs 1 crore to the Drainage Wing of Irrigation Department for the execution of stone pitching work to ensure adequate release of water to holy Bein from the Mukerian Hydel Project.
Taking part in the deliberations, Seechewal informed the Chief Minister that out of 7 bridges over holy Bein, four have already been constructed and the work on the remaining three would begin soon after getting the requisite material from the Irrigation Department, the official statement added.