Social activists urge Punjab Speaker to address Buddha Nullah pollution

Members of various organisations met Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Friday to raise concerns over the rising pollution in the Sutlej river caused by the Buddha Nullah. They alleged that the Buddha Nullah, a major tributary to the Sutlej, was a source of significant damage in the region.

President of Bhai Ghanaiya Cancer Roko Sewa Society Gurpreet Singh Chandbaja urged the Speaker to make the report publicly available, which was drafted by a committee constituted by Sandwan in July 2022, to examine the situation of the nullah and explore if it could be converted into Buddha Dariya under a rejuvenation project.

The organisations highlighted the adverse effects of untreated pollutants flowing into the river, posing a severe threat to aquatic life, agriculture and public health.

“We cannot allow our rivers to be treated as dumping grounds,” said Jaskirat Singh, an engineer from Ludhiana. He said the entire Malwa region and many districts of Rajasthan had come under the grip of terrible diseases. He said that the Pollution Control Board’s and the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) instructions were being blatantly violated by factories, dairies and other industries.

He added that the previous governments had also claimed to reserve crores for cleaning the Nullah but the problem was becoming more serious and complicated in the absence of any concrete action.

Sandhwan claimed that the state government was making sincere efforts to solve the problem. He said that the committee concerned would submit its report soon on the Nullah.