Need to develop Ludhiana as eco-tourism hub, says parliamentary panel

Ludhiana, The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science, Technology, Environment and Forests today stressed the need for joint efforts to make Ludhiana an environmentally sustainable industrial centre as well as an eco-tourism hub of the state.
Addressing a press conference after a day-long visit of the 30-member committee to the city, Rajya Sabha member Ashwani Kumar said although the city played a big role in the industrial revolution of the country by making a mark in cycle, hosiery and engineering fields, the industrial growth had also deteriorated the quality of air, water and other natural resources, particularly the Sutlej water.
The committee visited two spots at Budha Nullah and held deliberation with members of civil society organisations, NGOs, officials of various state government departments. The aim was to assess the status of environment in the industrial capital of Punjab.
Ashwani Kumar, who heads the committee, said the committee had been apprised of the action plan for management of solid waste and augmenting the capacity of sewage-treatment plants. He said the Punjab Pollution Control Board had implemented bio-remediation of Budha Nallah at a cost of Rs 15 crore to improve the quality of flow in the drain before its confluence with the Sutlej.
He said the committee also noted that the dairy complexes located at Haibowal and Tajpur Road also contributed to the pollution of Budha Nallah, which ultimately affected the quality of water in the Sutlej.
He said NGOs and other organisations provided valuable suggestions and feedback for concerted efforts involving all stakeholders to reduce pollution of Budha Nallah, management of solid and plastic waste by effective compliance of various legislations, improvement in the public transport system and creating awareness among the public to motivate them to shun personal vehicles.