Punjab proposes to rejuvenate 'Budha Nallah'

The Punjab government has proposed to rejuvenate 'Budha Nallah', which carries untreated effluents, including industrial waste and passes through Ludhiana, at a cost of Rs 955 crore, a senior official said here today.

The local government department is in the process of framing a plan to rehabilitate and rejuvenate the highly polluted 'Budha Nallah', which was once a perennial stream flowing into Sutlej and a source of fresh water for Ludhiana, the official said.

"The indicative cost of the project cost is Rs 955 crore for the rejuvenation of the Budha Nallah and out of which about Rs 550 crore will be contributed by the Centre under the Smart City and Amrut schemes and the rest by the state," he said.

'Budha Nallah' is a seasonal tributary of Sutlej which emanates from the confluence of the Kum Link drain and the Neelon drain near Ghumait village and Kum Kalan and flows in an east-west direction south of the Sutlej river.

It runs almost parallel to the Sutlej through most of Ludhiana district and ultimately merges with the river at Walipur Kalan in the north-western corner of the district.

'Budha Nallah' carries about 327 million litres per day of sewage and 200 MLD of industrial effluent, out of 688 MLD of human and industrial waste water generated in the city.

The project involves sewage interception and treatment, industrial effluent interception and treatment, course strengthening, landscaping and area development, the official said.