Buddha Nullah pollution: BJP councillors accuse Ludhiana MC of misleading NGT, stage protest

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors and leaders slammed the municipal corporation (MC) for not taking concrete steps to deal with pollution in Buddha Nullah and accused them of misleading the monitoring committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over the existing condition of the stream.

The councillors also staged a protest and raised slogans against the civic body at the micro forest developed by MC at the banks of Buddha Nullah near Chand cinema on Friday.

A group of councillors including Inder Aggarwal, Parabhjot Kaur, Surinder Atwal among others visited Buddha Nullah to apprise the monitoring committee of ground reality. However, they accused the MC officials of changing the route of the NGT team so that the BJP councillors could not meet them.

Leader of BJP councillors Sunita Rani said, “The civic body is doing nothing to improve the condition of Buddha Nullah and swings into action a few days ahead of the NGT team visit. Illegal fish markets have been set up alongside the stream and no concrete action is being taken against violators even when they dump the waste into the nullah. The fish market was removed from the area just before the NGT team’s visit.”

Former deputy mayor RD Sharma said, “Garbage is accumulated in the nullah at different points and even the banks are not clean. The MC swung into action only two days ago and got a few areas cleaned where the team had to visit. However, nothing concrete is being done to provide a long-term solution to stop the dumping of waste into the stream.”

The MC officials, however, said that the NGT team decided the route plan. The government is working to reduce the pollution levels of Buddha Nullah and has planned a Rs 650-crore project for the same.

Despite repeated attempts, MC Commissioner, Pardeep Sabharwal could not be reached for comment.

Former senior deputy mayor launches campaign

Former senior deputy mayor Parveen Bansal along with his supporters have initiated a campaign to reduce the pollution in the nullah. Bansal said that they will also take up the matter with Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat over the issue.

Bansal said, “During my tenure, I had removed encroachments alongside the nullah. However, the MC has done nothing after that. Now, we have initiated a campaign, Buddha Nullah- A mission. We will also involve the public and ask for their suggestions through social networking sites. These suggestions will be put in front of Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat.”