Punjab to complete river cleaning project by 2013

Chandigarh, April 27 (IANS) An ambitious Rs.2,332-crore project to clean the rivers of Punjab would be completed by December 2013, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said here Friday.

Badal, during a meeting with senior officers, directed that work on the project be accelerated.

He said that under the project, the state government had already spent Rs 650 crore on the laying of water supply lines and setting up of sewage treatment plants in 45 cities and towns around the banks of rivers Satluj, Beas and Ghaggar.

Sewerage is a major pollutant of Punjab's rivers.

The chief minister also asked the officers to study the feasibility of replacing old sewage plants in Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the two major cities and industrial hubs of the state.

Work on the project was in full swing and would be completed by Dec 31 next year in 18 towns around Sutlej, 11 around Beas and 16 around Ghaggar, said Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board's managing director Satpal Angurala.

Punjab derives its name from 'Punj' (five) and 'Ab' (river) which translates into 'the land of five rivers'.