Sewage from Patiala ki Rao used to wash veggies, irrigate fields

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, December 25

If farm fresh, milky-white radish in the vegetable market is just what you want, think again. Vegetables coming from the city’s periphery are being washed in sewage water flowing in Patiala ki Rao rivulet.

Local farmers warned that there are several points alongside the seasonal rivulet where unscrupulous elements wash vegetables in sewage water and head to the grain market for sale.

Dirty water reaching rivulet, no check

Construction activity is going on at a large scale in the area. Either sewage treatment plants are not made or are of low capacity. There is no check on sewage ending up in Patiala ki Rao. —Balkar Singh, Palheri resident

Khuda Lahora, Palheri, Tewar, Kansala and Rurki villages have several places where sewage water is being used to wash vegetables. Not only washing, tubewells and motors have been installed alongside the rivulet to irrigate agricultural land in the villages.

Local farmers complained that old tubewells bored at the depth of 60 to 100 ft were pumping out dirty water with foul smell. “New tubewells are being bored over 500 ft deep to get clean water,” said Baljit Singh, a Tewar resident.

Officials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board said the domestic sewage water was being discharged into the seasonal rivulet at several places.

The PR-7 road, alongside these villages, is littered with sewage water stagnating in fields, vacant areas and alongside the road. Large tracts of lands can be seen littered with garbage, polluted water at several places.

Palheri resident Balkar Singh said, “Construction activity is going on at a large scale here. Either sewage treatment plants (STPs) are not made or are of low capacity. There is no check. If we complain to the administration, there is no action. The sewage line alongside the main road at one point has been left open due to a court case.”