Face2News/Chandigarh 

In the matter of OA no. 752/2024 titled Brijesh Singh Ladhwal Vs UT of Chandigarh & Ors reg., the applicant has raised the issue of pollution being caused in Sukhna Choe drain which finally meet river Ghaggar. Allegedly, the said drain is polluted as a result of discharge of pollutants and the solid waste which is stored and dumped on the banks of the Sukhna Choe.

As per the directions of Hon’ble NGT, a joint committee has been constituted comprising of the representative of the Central Pollution Control Board, Regional Office Chandigarh of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, District Magistrate Chandigarh and District Magistrate Zirakpur.

The joint committee had visited the Sukhna choe on 26.09.2024 upto the merging point in river Ghaggar and it was found that at many places in Punjab & Haryana, untreated sewage is being discharged into drain. Moreover, it was also found that at many places solid waste is also being dumped on the banks of choe. An Interim report was submitted to the Hon’ble NGT on 30.09.2024.

After that, the Hon’ble NGT passed an order on 04.10.2024, in compliance of which the joint committee carried out a survey on December 05 & 06, 2024 to identify the pollutant sources. Samples were collected from the different points of water discharge into Sukhna Choe to the merging point into the River Ghaggar and analysed for various parameters.

Accordingly, a meeting was held on 10.01.2025, under the Chairmanship of Sh. Nishant Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, UT Chandigarh, in which all the Joint Committee members & stakeholders discussed various aspects of the report so that the same can be submitted to the Hon’ble NGT on time.