Parl panel urges Punjab CM to tackle water contamination

Reminding Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of his 'Raj Dharma', former Union minister Ashwani Kumar today sought his personal intervention for resolving the issue of water contamination in the state.
The Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, who is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, in a letter to Badal said that achieving ecological standards and ensuring inter- generational equity in matters of health, well-being and quality of life was a chief minister's foremost 'Raj Dharma'.
"As a people's representative from the state, I feel strongly on these issues and hope that your government will use all the resources at its command to address the concerns raised.

"I request you to kindly intervene personally and issue suitable instructions in the matter so that we can move towards achieving the requisite ecological standards... And ensure intergenerational equities in the matter of health, well-being and quality of life of the people of Punjab. This is the foremost 'Raj Dharma'," he said.
Kumar said that the committee headed by him had visited the state for three days to evaluate the environmental status of the two cities of Amritsar and Ludhiana and found that the state is facing serious environment-related issues.
"There is an urgent need to set up STPs and ETPs/CETPs in various cities/industries, which I understand is a work in progress although financial packages for these will have to be secured. The need to preserve the purity of Sri Harmander Sahib is an obvious imperative," Kumar said.