INTRODUCTION

Buddha Nullah or Buddha Nala is a seasonal water stream,

which runs through the Malwa region of Punjab, India, and
after passing through highly populated Ludhiana
district, Punjab, India, it drains into Sutlej River, a tributary
of the Indus river. Today it has also become a major source of
pollution in the region as well the main Sutlej river, as it get
polluted after entering the highly populated and
industrialized Ludhiana city, turning it into an open drain. Also,
since large area in south-western Punjab solely depend on the
canal water for irrigation, and water from Buddha Nullah
enters various canals after Harike waterworks near Firozpur,
thus affecting far-reaching areas such as Malout, Zira, upper
Lambi, while the areas being fed by Sirhind feeder, are the
most-affected by its pollution.
In 2006, a Ludhiana-based human rights organisation, filed a
case regarding the state of the nullah in the Punjab State
Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) and even invited
environmentalist, Balbir Singh Seechewal, who had earlier
cleaned the 164-km-long highly polluted Kali Bein rivulet with
the help of his followers and without the government aid, to
take the cause of cleaning up the nullah. A study conducted
by Punjab Agricultural University in 2008, revealed presence
of toxins and heavy metals in the food chain due to use of its
water, to cultivate vegetables and other crops. This was
followed by another study by the School of Public Health,
Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, and
the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), which also
showed heptachlor, beta
endosulphan and chlorpyrifos pesticides in concentrations
exceeding the maximum residue limit in samples of ground and
canal water used for drinking, the pesticides were also
detected in fodder, vegetables, blood, bovine and human milk
samples, indicating that these have entered the food chain
due to the use of agricultural run-off and irrigation of field
with drain water. With increasing poisoning of the soil, the
region once hailed as the home to the Green Revolution, now
due to excessive use of chemical fertilizer, is being termed
the "Other Bhopal", and "even credit-takers of the Revolution
have begun to admit they had been wrong, now that they see
wastelands and lives lost to farmer suicides in this "granary of
India”.

Buddha Nala, Ludhiana, Punjab

Geographical Location

Buddha Nullah, literally, means Old rivulet or watercourse, and

it runs parallel to the Satluj on its south for a fairly large
section of its course in the Ludhiana district and ultimately
joins the Satluj at Wajipur Kalan in the northwestern corner
of the district. It floods during the rainy season, but in the
dry season it can be crossed on foot at certain points. Cities
of Ludhiana and Machhiwara are situated to the south of the
Buddha Nala.
PHYSICAL FEATURES
 Length : 36 km. (Kumbkalan to Ludiana 13 km &
Ludhiana to Sutlej River
confluence point 23 km)

 Width of the Drain : 12-24 meter

 Average water depth : 0.6-1.8 meter

 Average Flow : 600 MLD (Monitored by CPCB)

CONTRIBUTION IN
POLLUTION
The water of the stream is polluted after it enters Ludhiana
City. Buddha Nullah used to be a fresh water channel with
about 56 types of fish species prior to 1964. Now it has no
fish because of the high level toxicity in the water. It is now
an open sewer rather than a stream. Once an asset to the
city, the Nullah is now a source of public nuisance and poses a
serious health hazard.
The megacity has no sewage treatment plant. Untreated
domestic and industrial sewerage of the city is emptied into
Buddha Nullah. The nullah, in turn, empties into the mighty
Sutlej flowing nearby. Hundreds of tonnes of raw sewage
from Ludhiana flows into the Sutlej every day and is
distributed all over the state through irrigation canals. This
polluted water is in turn used for growing food crops,
vegetables and fruits and is a known carrier of diseases.
According to the State Department of Fisheries the pollution
of the Buddha Nullah has led to the drastic reduction in the
fish yield in river Sutlej.
A joint study by PGIMER and Punjab Pollution Control Board in
2008, revealed that in villages along the Nullah, calcium,
magnesium, fluoride, mercury, beta-endosulphan and
heptachlor were more than permissible limit (MPL) in ground
and tap waters. Plus the water had high concentration of COD
and BOD (chemical and biochemical oxygen demand), ammonia,
phosphate, chloride, chromium, arsenic and chlorpyrifos. The
ground water also contains nickel and selenium, while the tap
water has high concentration of lead, nickel and
cadmium. According to PPCB, the nullah water requires a
sewage treatment capacity of at least 150 million imperial
gallons (680,000 m3) per day for treatment while present
sewage treatment plants at Jamlapur, Nalloke and Bhattian
have a combined capacity of 311 MLD.
In 2010, water samples taken from the Nullah, showed heavy
metal content as quite high and the presence of uranium 1½
times the reference range. For example, chromium was 50
times the reference range, aluminum and iron 20 and 60 times
higher, while concentration of silver, manganese, nickel and
lead was equally high. Presently, sewage treatment plants of
466 MLD (48 MLD at Jamalpur, 111 & 50 MLD at Bhattial and
152 & 105MLD at Balloke) are operational for the treatment
of the sewage of Ludhiana city.

Response
In June 2009, Ludhiana district administration imposed
article 144 around the nullah, banning the throwing of garbage
in it, but in the following months it was scarcely implemented,
despite public outcry. In the following month, the Government
of Punjab, allocated Rs. 500 million for the cleaning up of the
nullah, and in August, the municipal corporation in a demolition
drive, removed a large number of illegal encroachments from
both sides of the nullah.
On 4 April 2011 Indian Ministry for Environment and Forests
has decided to launch "In Situ Bio-Remediation Project" on
Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
 Demonstration of ‘In-situ Sewage Treatment’ in Budha
Nala.
 Treatment of wastewater by application of microbial
consortia augmented with aquatic plants.
 Standardization of the technology for replication after
assessment of performance.

Technology: GREEN-BRIDGE
 Green-bridge and three to four hydro-cell construction
for flow control and effective treatment of sewage.
 Green –Bridge acts as a reservoir of microbes
 Microbial storage at the green bridges and mingling by
bottom of the hydro-cells.
 Microbes feed on the pollutants and treat the water.
 Aquatic plants grown on Green-bridges & along drain-bank
absorb nutrients to treat waste water.
Green Bridges for Buddha Nala
Restoration

WORKING PRINCIPLE
 Placement of Bar screen before green bridge to trap
garbage and other floating materials
 Waste water to pass through green bridges placed in a
Zig-zag manner.
 The green bridges made of boulder provided with
microbial doses and aquatic plants grown over it.
 Microbial doses released from the Green Bridge and also
from bottom of hydro-cells
 Regular monitoring of water quality
 Regular cleaning of Green bridges and maintenance of
aquatic plants.
 CLAIMED RESULTS

Parameters Existing Quality Reduction After Treatment

BOD 85 to 165 mg/l 55- 70% 25 to 50 mg/l

COD 387 to 526 mg/l 55- 70% 115 to 150 mg/l

TSS 201 to 398 mg/l 55- 80% 40 to 80 mg/l

Cr+ 0.46 mg/l 55- 60% 0.18 mg/l

Pb+ 0.21 mg/l 55-60% 0.08 mg/l

Ni+ 0.47 mg/l 55-60% 0.18 mg/l

Zn+ 2.40 mg/l 55-60% 0.96 mg/l

 E.ST. FIELD WORK PROJECT

Buddha Nullah,
Ludhiana
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Mr. Vickaramjeet Singh Manjot Singh
18102045 (A4b)