Ludhiana, March 20 -- The panchayats of around 40 villages in Ludhiana and Moga districts are up in arms against the state government over what they say are the latter's plans to divert the water output of common effluent treatment plants (CETP) towards irrigation.

The residents of area near Walipur Kalan village, where the Buddha Nullah merges with the Sutlej River, say the industrial effluents present in the water would pollute the groundwater and harm their crops.

According to the information available, officials of the drainage department have been conducting surveys in the area for the past couple of days, which sent alarm bells ringing among the locals.

Walipur Kalan sarpanch (village head) Karnail Kaur said, "We oppose the irrig...