Ludhiana seems to have come to the aid of
Jalandhar’s Kala Sanghian drain. If everything goes according to plan,
the Jalandhar electroplating industry, which is often accused of
polluting the Kala Sanghian, might get their untreated water treated
from the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) at Ludhiana.
The proposal has been floated by the Punjab
Pollution Control Board. The electroplaters of Jalandhar as well as
the company running the CETP at Ludhiana have agreed to this proposal.
“The CETP at Ludhiana is treating lakhs of
litres of water every month. We came to know that it was not filled to
capacity. That is why it was suggested to Jalandhar-based
electroplaters to take benefit of the Ludhiana plant so that they get
a permanent solution to their problem. We are basically making the
best use of available resources,” stated Kahan Singh Pannu, Chairman
of the PPCB.
Presently, the electroplating industry doesn’t
have its own CETP, while the CETP, which is run by JBR Technologies
Pvt Ltd, is treating 1 lakh-1.5 lakh litres of water everyday.
Pardeep Singh, Vice-President and Technical
Director, JBR Technologies, said that with the present set-up, they
have a capacity of treating 2 lakh litres per day.
“And if we install another reverse osmosis (RO)
plant, our capacity would go up to 4 lakh litres of water per day.
This would be sufficient to treat untreated water coming from
Jalandhar,” he said.
The water treated by CETP is sold to other
industries of Ludhiana by the company and it is put to several uses.
“The water is so clean that one can even drink it. But right now, its
being used for industrial use.
“To treat the water, we charge 69 paisa per
litre from the electroplating industry here. Electroplaters from
Jalandhar will have to pay 5 paisa more for transportation,” he said.
The untreated water from Jalandhar will be transported in big
containers to Ludhiana. Pannu was hopeful that the system may take
final shape by Friday.
