NEWS

Seechewal later even displayed samples of water taken from the Beas when it enters Punjab and that from the Kala Sangha drain near Jalandhar. He said he had been telling the PPCB authorities to take required action to stop release of the effluents into the Kala Sangha drain in Jalandhar and the Budha Nala in Ludhiana, but to no avail.

Seechewal went on to claim that there was a nexus between the municipal corporation authorities and the industry, which was releasing the effluents without check into the water bodies. He claimed that the common treatment plan (CTP) needed at Dasuya was delayed due to issues of high projected cost of Rs seven crore, but that his organisation had established a temporary CTP at a cost of Rs 17 lakh only, which was giving good results.

Legislator Darshan Singh Shivalik, who along with Makhan Singh and Harchand Kaur were the only MLA’s who attended the conference, said during a recent checking by a Vidhan Sabha committee, it was revealed that factory owners had been “advised” by officials concerned not to release effluents for few days till the checking was completed.