The National Green Tribunal’s monitoring committee led by its chairman Justice (retired) Jasbir Singh on Monday took stock of progress of ongoing projects besides directed the officials of Municipal Corporation Jalandhar and other urban local bodies to ensure proper utilization of treated water for construction activities in the district.
Presiding over a meeting at local district administrative complex, Justice Jasbir Singh said that there was a prohibition on the use of groundwater for the construction activities. He emphasized that feasibility to supply the treated water to the people should be explored for construction works on a fixed price so as to save the precious natural resource.
He said that providing treated water for construction works at suitable price would not only go a long way in preserving groundwater for our future generations but also supplement the revenue of civic bodies.
Expressing concern over the depleting water table by day, Justice Jasbir Singh pointed out that majority of blocks in Punjab had already fallen in the category of dark zone, which was the matter of serious concern. The Chairman also asked the officials concerned to put in place their best efforts in addressing the severe challenges to save the groundwater.
Accompanied by committee members namely Rajya Sabha MP and renowned Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, Former Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal & Babu Ram and Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori, the Committee Chairman said that treated water must also be used for sprinkling before sweeping at roads paving a way to curb the air pollution.
He also mentioned that treated water could be used for irrigation purposes and the concerned departments should launch a vigorous campaign to motivate the farmers in this regard.Referring to clearing the site of Wariana dump, the officials of Municipal Corporation apprised the Committee that bio-mining project worth Rs 32.11 crore would start from next month to clear nearly 8 lakh MT waste at the site within two years.
The Committee chairman also expressed displeasure over the slow progress of solid waste management projects, Sewage Treatment Plants, Common effluent treatment plants (CETP), Source Segregation and others works and told the officials to ensure timely completion.
He also asked them to mention the timeline of each project from the tendering, date of execution and completion in their reports and added the committee would keep watch on the progress of these projects by visiting the sites.
Rajya Sabha MP and Committee Member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal also said that officials must accord foremost priority in timely completion of such projects to give better environment to coming generations.
Meanwhile, Ghanshyam Thori instructed the officials of various departments attending the meeting to accomplish the given tasks well within the stipulated timeframe in larger public interest.
Joint Commissioner of Police Navneet Singh Bains, Additional Deputy Commissioner (D) Varinder Pal Singh Bajwa, SP (H) Manpreet Singh Dhillon, Civil Surgeon Dr Raman Kumar and others were also present.