Student shows the way, takes up water contamination issue

As political parties poured their energies into last-day campaigning, it was the concern voiced by a 17-year-old girl that drew the attention of villagers in Patiala district.

While politicians crisscrossed narrow village lanes in swanky SUVs, promoting their candidates and promising sweeping development, a completely different issue took centre stage in Panaudian village of Patiala district.

A Class XII student Shubhreej Kaur, daughter of Congress candidate Yadwinder Singh Dhindsa, used her canvassing rounds to speak about groundwater depletion and uranium contamination. Citing the Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2025 of the Central Ground Water Board, she highlighted the alarmingly high uranium levels and the rapid extraction of the state’s subsoil water.

The video of her expressing concern about the contamination of subsoil water has also gone viral. She appealed to voters to rise above petty politics and work collectively for the welfare of Punjab, stressing that environmental degradation poses a far greater threat to the state’s future than any political rivalry.

When asked, Shubhreej Kaur said she takes keen interest in relevant issues concerning the state. “I keep reading newspapers and acquire information from other reliable media handles to know about latest developments taking place in the region and in the country,” said Shubhreej Kaur.

“Overusing social media only makes a person less aware and more disconnected from the real issues unfolding around them,” she said. “The issue of drug abuse resurfaces during every election, and this time is no different,” said Shubhreej Kaur.

In Lang village, even as political parties poured all their energies into last-day campaigning, residents made it clear that their vote would go only to those who promise a decisive end to the drug menace.