Dairy waste clogs treatment plants, Punjab sewerage board and Ludhiana MC are on a three-day deadline

Ludhiana: Authorities in Ludhiana have issued a three-day deadline to address unchecked cow dung discharge from the Haibowal dairy complex , which is choking local sewer systems and polluting the sacred Buddha Dariya .

In an attempt to tackle this escalating environmental crisis caused, the deputy commissioner has given municipal officials and the Punjab water supply and sewerage board these three days to present a concrete plan of action. During a high-level meeting held on Saturday where he gave them this ultimatum, officials agreed to conduct a survey to assess the actual scale of the problem. The Buddha Dariya and pipelines of the effluent treatment plant (ETP) at Haibowal have reportedly been clogged by solid cow waste from the nearby dairy complex.

Several dairy units at the Haibowal complex remain disconnected from the ETP. Incomplete trench work has worsened the problem, diverting untreated wastewater to nearby fields or directly into the Buddha Dariya. Complaints from dairy owners prompted the urgent meeting, where the sewerage board officials were directed to complete all pending ETP connections and construct trenches without further delay.

The municipal corporation (MC) has also received instructions to deploy additional trailers to remove solid cow dung from the site. Currently, the on-site biogas plant handles only 40 to 50% of the daily cow dung output, and an additional biogas facility remains in the planning phase. Punjab Energy Development Authority (Peda) officials were notable absentees at Saturday's meeting, but they are expected to attend a follow-up meeting scheduled for Wednesday, where discussions will resume on the stalled biogas plant projects at Haibowal and Tajpur Road.

As for the planned survey, the sewerage board will do it. Aam Aadmi Party's municipal councillor Indu Munish Shah shared with the media that: "We had lodged a complaint about regular water stagnation in the dairy complex and, on my behalf, my husband, Munish Shah, sat in the meeting where the DC demanded a solution from his team of officers. A survey will now start to find out the cattle count, quantum of cow dung, and whether or not the dairy unit has any ETP link." Asked what his office will do, MC chief engineer, Ravinder Garg, said: "We will arrange for lifting the cow dung by floating a tender." DC Himanshu Jain did not respond to the query.

Meanwhile, efforts continue at the Tajpur Road dairy complex to stop the direct discharge of waste into the Buddha Dariya. Environmentalist and Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal and his team have sealed all the pipelines that carry cow dung to the river and are now focused on repurposing the waste as manure for agricultural use — a technique employed previously in surrounding villages.

Notably, the original plan under the Buddha Dariya rejuvenation project had called for relocating both dairy complexes outside city limits. However, amid political and logistical delays, the plan was shelved. Instead, ETPs were installed onsite — a solution now at risk, as the plants are not designed to handle solid waste. Officials warn that without swift intervention, the treatment infrastructure could soon fail.

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