M A I L B A G

Budda Nullah, a victim of official apathy

The Tribune has done well to highlight the problem of Ludhiana’s Budda Nullah. The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation doesn’t treat the effluents and waste water from industries, dairies, etc. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has unlimited powers to enforce the law, but in vain. The same is the case with the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB). Why can’t it disconnect power supply to industries without valid licence?

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation too has vast powers. It can disconnect the sewer connection, cancel the licence and challan such industries which are playing with the lives of the citizens. It collects crores of rupees towards sewerage charges, but is hardly doing anything to keep the drain clean. As it dumps industrial effluents and domestic waste water into the drain without treatment, the PPCB should file criminal cases against the officers responsible for making the Budda Nullah a killer drain.

SATWANT SINGH SAINI, Chandigarh

II

Unlike the Kali Bein, Budda Nullah is not the people’s lifeline. Instead, it has become a curse for them as it serves as a readymade outlet for the industry to dump their effluents. The people of Ludhiana do not need it for their sustenance.

We should not waste any more time and energy in cleaning it. Instead we should try to get rid of it.

I suggest diversion of Budda Nullah from the point it enters the city through an alternate route devoid of industry to reach the Sutlej river. Then, we should fill up the existing 9-km stretch of the Nullah within the city limits and develop it as a green belt to improve the deteriorating environment of the industrial town.

Wg-Cdr C.L. SEHGAL, (retd), Jalandhar

III

It is surprising how industries don’t treat their wastes, allow it into Budda Nullah and get due clearance from the PPCB. It is time the government took strict action against such industries and people who don’t bother to keep the drain and its surroundings clean.

The people of Punjab in general and those surrounding Budda Nullah in particular should thank Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal for having offered to clean the Nullah. The government must avail itself of the services of this great environmentalist. The people should extend a helping hand in this worthy cause.

N.L. JINDAL, Mansa

IV

The Tribune’s efforts to draw the attention of the government, people and other institutions towards the poisonous Budda Nullah is laudable. Ironically, Ludhiana is well known for its Budda Nullah than for its woollen industry. The Municipal Corporation officials are giving a deaf war to such hazardous problems of the residents and playing with the health of innocent people.

However, as the Assembly elections are round the corner in Punjab, I am sure, the government will take some effective steps to strengthen its vote bank.

SARITA DADWAL, Ludhiana

V

Yes, The Tribune deserves our gratitude in goading the Punjab government and its officials to the grave threat posed by the polluted Budda Nullah. It is hoped that kar seva in this case will be initiated by the Punjab Chief Minister by having the first dig on the Budda Nullah clean-up operation.

Unfortunately, there is no enough water flow in Budda Nullah to flush the polluted drain and also provide enough ‘oxygen’ to help the Nullah regain its purity or cleanliness. Water can be released from the ‘Escape’ structure existing in the Sirhind Canal near Chamkaur Sahib; it can release the required amount of water into Buddha Nullah at its head.

Dr G.S. DHILLON, Chandigarh

Court’s powers curtailed Prior to the latest amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), introduced in 2005 and 2006, the offender who did not attend to the court’s summons could be declared a proclaimed offender after complying with the procedure laid down in Section 82 of the said code. Following the amendment of this Section, the court’s powers to declare an offender a proclaimed offender have been substantially curtailed. Now only a person wanted in connection with an offence punishable under the following Sections of the Indian Penal Code can be declared a proclaimed offender: 302, 304, 364, 367, 382, 392 to 400, 402, 436, 449, 459 or 460. Why persons accused of other offences have been left out of the net is not understandable. And if the learned framers of the amending law thought that these are the only serious sections, then what about Section 364A IPC (kidnapping for ransom, punishable with death or life imprisonment)? Is it not shocking that a criminal who has kidnapped a child and threatens to kill it, if not paid ransom, and is running about changing his hideout every time, cannot be declared a proclaimed offender? He can roam about free. RAM SARAN BHATIA, Dist & Sessions Judge (retd), Faridabad

Big health hazard

In Northern plains, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, every inch of land burns after harvesting of paddy crops. Despite too many Acts and guidelines to prevent this fire, no one stops the farmers from doing so out of political compulsions. The government could provide diesel at low rates to poor farmers for extracting out the paddy straw.

This fire has become a big health hazard because carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions concentrate in the atmosphere and increase the global temperature. Friendly insects also die due to heat in the fields. The authorities should check this menace to save Mother Earth and help our future generations survive.

VINOD KUMAR JINDAL, Mansa