The State of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh has decided to make the rivers pollution-free.
The decision was taken in a joint meeting of the Chief Secretaries of all three States including the senior officers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday to resolve the issues related to pollution in river water in these States.
The meeting was held as a follow up action of the Northern Zonal Council meeting held under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as per the proposal of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
During the meeting, it was informed that River Satluj is mainly being polluted in Himachal Pradesh by industries of Golthai, Mehatpur and Nalagarh area. After detailed deliberations, it was decided that joint sampling and monitoring on quarterly basis will be done by the officials of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh near these industrial areas to effectively check the water quality in these rivers.
“Punjab shall complete all 18 Sewage Treatment Plants on various locations of River Satluj by June 30, 2016. Various initiatives have been taken by Punjab to reduce pollution in river Satluj include connection of untapped points of Anandpur Sahib town to STP, utilization of treated sewage for irrigation purpose, cleaning of Budha Nallah by installing biogas power plant, stoppage of garbage or solid waste into Budha Nallah, cleaning of Kala Sanghian drain etc,” said a spokesperson.
Further various initiatives have been taken by the state to reduce industrial pollution of companies like NFl Nangal, PACl Nangal, Thermal Plant Ropar, dying and electroplating companies in ludhiana.
Detailed deliberations were also made on various options to reduce the pollution in river Ghaggar which originates from Sirmour Hills in Himachal Pradesh and passes through districts of Mohali, Patiala, Sangrur and Mansa in Punjab. It was informed that untreated industrial effluent and domestic effluent from the industrial area of Nahan, Parwanoo, Kala Amb etc is polluting river Ghaggar.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary P Mitra mentioned that the locations where river Ghaggar is getting polluted have been identified and five STPs including at Parwanoo, Kala Amb, and Baddi will be made operational soon. Sources of pollution identified for river Ghaggar from Haryana included Sukhna Choe, Singh Nallah, Gazipur Nallah, Ghail drain, Sagar Parra drain, Kaithal drain, waste water of Jakhal and Ratia town etc.
The officers from Haryana mentioned that a joint monitoring of the pollutants level is already being done with State of Punjab and this has resulted in reduction in pollutants level. To further reduce the pollutants, 73 STPs are being installed out of which 36 have already been commissioned and remaining will be made operational in next six months.
Punjab Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal mentioned that seven STPs out of 21 planned along the river Ghaggar have been completed and remaining will be made operational by Mach 31 next.