Buddha Nullah rejuvenation project work nears completion in Ludhiana

Ludhiana, June 28

The wait for the highly-polluted Buddha Nullah, a seasonal tributary of Sutlej flowing in Ludhiana, to turn into Buddha Dariya seems unending even as the Rs 840-crore project has been almost completed but not before missing at least seven deadlines, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has said.

With the civic body officials claiming that 99 per cent work on the ongoing rejuvenation project is already complete, the ambitious project’s impact is yet to be seen.

Once completed, the rejuvenation was aimed to shed the infamous tag of “Nullah” from one of the most polluted water bodies, running almost parallel to Sutlej through most of Ludhiana district, including 14-km in Ludhiana city, which it bisects into two parts, before merging with Sutlej.

The MC Commissioner, Sandeep Rishi, said the rejuvenation of Buddha Nullah has been completed barring construction of one of the six intermediate pumping stations (IPS) that had been stalled due to land dispute.

Rishi disclosed that almost all components of the project had already been completed while the efforts were on to complete the under-construction 55 MLD IPS at Gaushala.

The MC chief informed that of the two new sewage treatment plants (STPs) constructed, a 225-MLD capacity STP at Jamalpur, which was the biggest such facility in the state, and another 60-MLD capacity STP at Balloke had already been made operational.

Under the domestic effluent management of the project, five of the planned total six (IPSs) on the banks of Buddha Nullah have already installed of which five units – 12-MLD capacity at Tibba, 8-MLD capacity at Sundar Nagar, 5-MLD capacity at Kundanpuri, 13-MLD capacity at Upkar Nagar, and 43-MLD LMH IPS — have already been established.

While the IPSs at Tibba, Sundar Nagar and Kundanpuri had already been made operational, the other two at Upkar Nagar and LMH were put under trial.

However, almost 40 per cent work had also been completed on the sixth IPS near Gaushala, which was facing a legal scrutiny for land issue.

The project also entails rehabilitation and repair of existing STPs and pumping stations under which the work on three STPs and MPSs including 105-MLD capacity at Balloke, 50-MLD capacity at Bhattian and another 111-MLD capacity STP and MPS at Bhattian had already been completed and they have been working satisfactorily, while the rehabilitation of 152-MLD capacity STP and MPS at Balloke had also been completed and made operational.

The construction of two ETPs — one 2.25-MLD at Tajpur and another 3.75-MLD at Haibowal — for handling liquid waste from the dairy complex had also been completed and made operational.

Rishi said: “The goal of this project is to close all the waste discharge outlets into Buddha Nullah. We are still working on the loopholes that may still be polluting the waterbody and would plug them all to turn it into Buddha Dariya.”