Bar assn extends support in fight to save Buddha Nullah

Ludhiana Bar Association on Thursday extended support to the environmentalists and activists waging a war on widespread water pollution in their fight to save the Buddha Nullah, a Sutlej tributary passing through Ludhiana, from contamination.

This was decided at a meeting of the executive committee of the Bar Association with the leaders of Kale Pani Da Morcha, a civil society movement, spearheading a sustained campaign to free Buddha Nullah of pollution, here.

The focus of the meeting was on the proper implementation of the law to curb the toxic pollution in the waterbody.

During the discussion, the Bar Association general secretary Parminder Pal Singh said the Bar fully supported a quick resolution of this serious issue of Punjab and was ready to provide all kinds of legal support for the cause.

Harish Rai Dhanda, former chairman of the Bar Council, said there had been attempts to solve the problem of the Buddha Nullah several times in the past but they could not succeed because the governments of the day kept running away from taking difficult decisions. “It remains to be seen if the current dispensation has enough willpower to take hard steps,” he added.

Parupkar Singh Ghuman, former president of the Bar Association, and former deputy chairman of Bar Council Punjab and Haryana, assured complete solidarity for the cause of ensuring that polluters did not escape the law and assured free legal support if the government of the day commited any excesses against the activists fighting for the cause.

Amitoj Mann of Kale Pani Da Morcha said closing all the illegal outlets of dyeing and other industries throwing their effluents into Buddha Nullah was needed to stop the genocide happening in Punjab. “This illegal practice has been happening due to collusion and corruption for decades,” he alleged, while emphasising that the role of lawyers was going to be very important in this cause.

Bar Association vice-president Sandeep Arora, joint secretary Rajinder Bhandari, finance secretary Karnish Gupta and several other lawyers participated in the discussion.

Amandeep Singh Bains, Kapil Arora, Jaskirat Singh, Kuldeep Singh Khaira represented the Kale Pani Da Morcha while Col Jasjit Gill (retd), former member of Buddha Dariya Task Force also attended the meeting.