Punjab and Haryana will now jointly chalk out a time-bound action plan to clean River Ghaggar and make it pollution free, it was decided in a meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Haryana counterpart Manohar lal on Thursday.
The Haryana Government is planning to bring down the Bio Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) parameter of Ghaggar river to improve the quality of water, Manohar lal said. This parameter will be brought down to 10 million litres per day (MlD). Out of 20 towns located along the river in Haryana, Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) have become functional in 12 towns, whereas work on eight STPs has been initiated.
Haryana will continue to follow the "SBR" technology in new STPs for big towns which automatically brings down the BOD level to 10 MlD in the long run, Manohar lal said in the meeting. BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material. The meeting held here was convened for suggesting ways to purify Ghaggar River which is being polluted due to discharge of untreated or partially treated industrial and domestic effluent from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
Expressing concerns, Manohar lal said the issue assumes significance for both States as according to historians, in the ancient times, Ghaggar river was part of mythical river Saraswati. He suggested that both states should jointly work for the purification of the river so as to further improve the quality of water and also to make it usable for irrigation.
He also suggested that a meeting with the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and officers of Union Territory Chandigarh should be convened to check chemical affluent flown in the river from their side. The Haryana CM also urged his Punjab counterpart to join his endeavour to take up all other issues pertaining to both States on a priority basis.
Badal said it was the high time for both the States to intensify their ongoing efforts to save the people from the scourge of polluted river water. He avowed to make the river Ghaggar pollution free within one-and-half year. Badal impressed upon Manohar lal to initiate immediate remedial measures through installation of STPs/up-gradation of existing STPs based on new technology to bring down the BOD level to 10 mg per liter before discharge of treated sewage/effluents into the river to rejuvenate the quality of water of the river to safely utilise its water for irrigation purposes.
The Punjab Chief Minister also suggested to constitute a committee of the Chief Secretaries of both the States to closely monitor and review the progress for installation of STPs in a time bound manner besides enforcement by the regulatory body to ensure the achievement of standards and not to allow any discharge from industries into rivers.
Badal assured his Haryana counterpart that he would soon request the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister to take a call on this issue for curtailing the discharge from the industrial and domestic sources from the Parwanoo, Nahan and Kala Amb. After taking Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister into confidence in this regard, a joint meeting of three States would be held shortly to ensure that this mission mode program could be taken to its logical end.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister had a detailed meeting with the Administrator of Union Territory Chandigarh Shivraj Patil on December 9, to take effective measures to plug the ten vulnerable outlets of untreated sewage and sub-standard treated wastewater of Chandigarh region being carried by Sukhna Choe into Ghaggar river in the State. Both the Chief Ministers also agreed to sit together to resolve other interstate issues affecting the people of both the States in the larger public interest.
Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab SK Sandhu gave a power point presentation highlighting the status of pollution through various sources from both the States including UT of Chandigarh and also mentioned the effective steps taken by the State Government for the installation of STPs across the river Ghaggar besides the control of pollution by the industries on the basis of zero liquid discharge.
likewise Principal Secretary Environment-cum-chairman HSPCB Haryana Amit Jha gave a detailed presentation regarding the pollution sources from both the states including Union Territory and Himachal Pradesh area. He also elaborated efforts made by the Government of Haryana for the installation of STPs for the towns located on river Ghaggar and initiative of the industries to control pollution.