Just after it got functional last month, it seems that the bio-remediation project to clean the Budha Nullah has hit a roadblock as contractor of the project has alleged that he has not been paid for the work completed till date. He has said that he will not go ahead with the project until he will not get his payment. Members of the Work Done Verification Committee claim that there are some discrepancies in the billing done by the contractor and until these discrepancies are not cleared, they cannot clear the bills. The committee comprises officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board. From a clean water channel just four decades ago, the Budha Nullah has today turned into a slow-moving stream, which is also responsible for the increasing pollution levels in the Sutlej. Five ‘green bridges’ have to be constructed at a distance of 500 m from each other on the nullah downstream from Jainpur village. On December 4, the work on the first green bridge was completed and 45 tonnes of microbial culture were released into it. The remaining four 'V' shaped 'green bridges' are yet to be constructed by Green Technologies. Probir Sinha, owner of Green Technologies, claims that he has not received any payment for the work carried out till date. “I have invested about Rs 3-4 crore in the project but till date I have not received even a single penny. I have heard the verification for the completed work has been carried out and the CPCB will be releasing the payment shortly. Without money, we would not be able to go ahead with the project," said Sinha. “The contractor has not maintained the bills properly. That is why we are not able to verify the work carried by him. It is an important project and payments would be released once members of the committee feel that the work has been done properly. The committee had discussed the issue on January 8 and we would be meeting again next week," said Krunesh Garg, head of the committee. How the project shaped up Former Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh inaugurated the project on April 23, 2011 After remaining on paper for more than 20 months, the project costing Rs 16 crore began on December 4 About 70 tonnes of microbial culture were released into the drain near Jainpur village. The project is expected to reduce the pollution level in the nullah by 50 to 80 per cent