IT was a Sunday, August 14, a day before Independence Day, with all the enticing possibilities of a really long weekend. But 10 residents of Ludhiana were instead holding a freedom-from-pollution protest at a complex of dairies which have been dumping cow dung and other wastes into the Buddha Dariya which runs through the heart of their city, Punjab’s leading commercial centre.
The Buddha Dariya has for long been just an eyesore and embarrassment for Ludhiana. The city’s own water supply is not directly affected, but the chemicals and organic wastes dumped into the. . .