The state has achieved almost 100 per cent door-to-doorcollection and segregation of municipal solid waste.
Besides, the state has prepared 14 district environmentplans to address the problem of pollution at the district level.
This was disclosed by the Chief Secretary, Ms Vini Mahajan,after her discussions with the NGT-appointed monitoring committee for theSutlej and Beas rivers, under the chairmanship of Justice Jasbir Singh (Retd.).
She assured the Committee that the state government was taking all possible measuresto ameliorate the environment and was committed to provide clean and safepotable water to the citizens in the state.
Ms Mahajan also assured that the state government wouldintensify its efforts for the management of solid waste, including biomedical waste and plastic waste,in the agrarian state.
The panel, comprising former Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal,environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal (both members), and technicalexpert Dr Babu Ram, briefed the CS about the various environment related issuesconcerning the state with specific reference to improving the water quality inthe rivers and waste management in urbanand rural areas.
The committee was constituted on the behest of the NationalGreen Tribunal to specifically look into various environmental issues in 2019.
The most significant achievement by the State in the last 2years was the improvement in the water quality to the desired level (Class-B)in two stretches of Beas river, which has become the only river in the entirecountry to achieve such standards.
Apart from this, the work to the tune of Rs 500 crore,pertaining to setting up of sewage treatment plants and effluent treatmentplants for dairy waste to address the problem of pollution in Budha nullah, one of the dirtiest tributeriesof Sutlej river, passing through most parts of Ludhiana.
It is expected that after commissioning of these plants,the river water quality of Sutlej will improve significantly.
Besides, 105 MLD capacity Common Effluent Treatment Plants(CETPs) have been set up to check industrial pollutants entering into Sutlejriver.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief SecretaryWater Resources, Principal Secretary Local Government, Chairman PunjabPollution Control Board, and Directors of Rural Development and Panchayats andEnvironment and Climate Change.