Setting three-month deadline, Punjab Power and Irrigation Rana Gurjit Singh on Monday directed the officials of the Irrigation and Drainage department to rid the holy Kali Bein rivulet of water hyacinth and underwater vegetation.
The direction came after the Minister, along with the Irrigation and Drainage and local Administration officials, inspected the condition of the rivulet at the Kanjali picnic spot.
Rana Gurjit said sewage water flowing into the rivulet for years had left it in a “pitiable condition”.
He directed the officials to rid the waterbody of hyacinth and underwater vegetation within three months.
He also instructed the Irrigation and Drainage Department to install a conveyor belt at the barrage of the rivulet, which would help in removing the hyacinth.
lashing out at the previous Akali-BJP Government in Punjab for “not making any efforts” to clean the Kali Bein and stop the sewage water flowing into it, he said Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress Government was committed to cleaning the holy rivulet and stopping the sewage flow into it by 2019, to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The Sikh Guru spent over 14 years of his life at Sultanpur lodhi, located on the south bank of the rivulet, and bathed daily in it during the period. The Kali Bein originates from Dhanoa village in Hoshiarpur district.