Vows to fulfill Chief Minister’s commitment to make rivers clean and pollution free
Chandigarh, August 8:
Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua today directed all departments concerned with controlling water & air pollution to work on a war footing in order to make Punjab and its rivers and streams pure and clean.
Reiterating the commitment of chief minister Bhagwant Mann to make a pollution free environment in the state, the Chief Secretary reviewed the discharge of sewage and effluents and disposal of solid and plastic waste in the state.
While reviewing the water pollution of rivers due to discharge of sewage and effluents, the Local Government Department apprised that out of 111 STPs of about 785 MLD capacity proposed to be set up in the State, the work in 53 STPs (617.5 MLD) is already in progress. All the 111 STPs are likely to be made functional by December 31, 2023 and the State would be able to achieve the desired quality in the rivers. As far as pollution of river Sutlej is concerned, the 2 STPs at Jamalpur (225 MLD) & Balloke (60 MLD) are likely to be completed by March 31, 2023. Further, the Common Effluent Treatment Plants of 40 MLD & 50 MLD capacity for the treatment of Textile Dying Effluents at Ludhiana have already been commissioned.
Regarding the treatment of Dairy Effluents in Ludhiana, the work for setting up of the Compressed Bio Gas Plant to treat 300 Tons/day of Cow dung has been awarded. Further, there is a plan to set up one more Bio Gas Plant at Haibowal Dairy Complex which will handle around 200 Tons/day of Cow dung.Further, regarding the treatment of Liquid Waste being generated from Tajpur & Haibowal Dairy Complexes, the work on setting up of 2 ETPs is under progress and is likely to be completed by March 31, 2023.
In the meeting Rural Development & Panchayats Department informed the Committee that the work of rejuvenation of ponds has been completed in 860 villages and is under progress in 515 villages.
The Chief Secretary was appraised by PPCB that the State is strictly enforcing the ban on Single use plastic items as per the directions of Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India. A State Level function had also been organized under the guidance of Chief Minister and Science Technology & Environment Minister on August 5, 2022 for creating awareness among public.
The Chief Secretary was also apprised that Solid Waste Management, door to door collection and segregation of waste at source has been started. Further, around 8250 compost pits have been constructed for the management of wet waste and 266 material recovery facilities have been set up for the management of dry waste.
Regarding the Bio-remediation of old dump sites, it was informed that the work in 114 ULBs is to be completed by December 31, 2022, 32 ULBs by March 31, 2023 & 2 ULBs by March 31, 2024. The Local Government department has also set up micro units in 139 ULBs for the processing of construction and demolition waste. A 60 TPD Plant has also been commissioned at MC, Jalandhar.
Prominent among others who were present in the meeting included Financial Commissioner Rural Development K. Siva Prasad, Principal Secretary Housing & Urban Development Ajoy Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary Local Government Vivek Pratap Singh, Secretary Environment Rahul Tiwari, Chairman Punjab Pollution Control Board Dr. Adarsh Pal Vig, CEO Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board Varinder Kumar Sharma, CEO PMIDC Isha Kalia, CEO PEDA Sumeet Jarangal, Director Environment Manish Kumar.
