The Centre has decided to treat the Sutlej river on par with the Ganga. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who today called on Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, said the Centre had decided to treat the Sutlej at par with the Ganga, which is being cleaned under the prestigious National Mission. He said Punjab also managed to get a big boost towards crop diversification and became the first non-coastal state in the country to get a regional centre of the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture. He also asked for a special project to encourage fish farming, especially in the waterlogged areas of southern Punjab apart from an expeditious approval to the agriculture diversification plan of Rs 7,921 crore over a period of five years as submitted by the state government. Badal shared his concerns with Bharti about pollution levels in the Sutlej. He sought special package for cleaning of the river on the pattern of the package envisaged for the Ganga. “Bharti announced that the Centre would treat the Sutlej as a model river and every effort would be made to clean it on the pattern of the Ganga,” the statement said. Other issues raised by Badal included channelisation of the Ghaggar on which Bharti assured that a meeting of the Central Water Commission would soon be convened to expedite completion of the work. Besides, he asked for the allocation of the pending Central assistance for the waterlogged areas in Punjab.