Ludhiana: Efforts to rejuvenate the heavily polluted Buddha Dariya have hit a standstill, as Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal accused local officials of negligence and a lack of accountability during a high-level review on Friday.Seechewal, a prominent environmentalist, highlighted a critical failure at the Haibowal dairy complex, where a non-functional treatment plant has allowed raw effluent to flow directly into the waterway for days. The meeting at the Ludhiana municipal corporation’s Zone-D office revealed deep systemic issues, including a Rs-22-crore cow dung collection tender awarded in Jan that has yet to be activated at the Tajpur Road complex.“Officials are blaming each other instead of acting against violations,” Seechewal said, noting that even with 31 FIRs (first-information reports) registered against dairy owners and crores in penalties for power theft, pollution levels remain unchanged.The MP also flagged structural failures in urban planning, stating that despite multiple meetings with the Punjab governor, the boundaries of the Buddha Dariya remain unmarked, allowing private walls to be built directly on its banks. He urged the immediate construction of compressed biogas (CBG) plants as the only viable solution for waste management.The environmental crisis is further complicated by industrial interference. Seechewal has reported that coloured industrial wastewater is infiltrating treatment plants in Jamal and Bhattian, damaging sensitive purification components. He called for an emergency pipeline to divert treated water and the installation of meters to curb excessive water misuse within the dairy sector.
