Stop flow of pollutants into Sutlej: Rajasthan Governor

In what appears to be the beginning of a fresh interstate dispute, Rajasthan has asked Punjab to stop the flow of polluted and hazardous water into the Sutlej, which enters the country’s largest north-western state in terms of area.

Expressing concern, Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagde has written to his Punjab counterpart Gulab Chand Kataria, seeking immediate action in the matter.

In a demi-official letter, Bagde has told Kataria about highly polluted chemical-laden poisonous water flows from Punjab to Rajasthan via the Sutlej, where it was supplied for drinking and irrigation purposes in at least 12 districts, including Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner and Jodhpur.

“The water polluted by effluents from heavy industries in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Phagwara and other cities and laced with chemicals and heavy metal poisonous substances is causing cancer and other incurable diseases to the people in Rajasthan, who are using it for potable purposes,” Bagde has said.

Bagde has also forwarded to Kataria a memorandum submitted to him by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) Sri Ganganagar unit president Gurbal Pal Singh Sandhu in this regard.

“In view of the seriousness and importance of the matter, I request you to direct the departments concerned to take appropriate action,” the Rajasthan Governor has urged his Punjab counterpart. In his memorandum, Sandhu has highlighted the gravity of the situation saying that the problem has been persisting for 30 years following which cancer and other dreaded diseases are spreading fast among the population in 12 districts in western Rajasthan.

“We and the public at large have been voicing concern over the issue since long, but no action has been taken to stop the supply of highly polluted and poisonous water from Punjab to Rajasthan through the Sutlej,” the SKM chief has told Bagde.

Incidentally, Buddha Nullah, a natural water stream originating from Koom Kalan in Ludhiana, is the main source of pollution in the Sutlej. Of its total 47.55-km length, a 14-km stretch passes through Ludhiana city and after that it merges into the Sutlej at Walipur Kalan village in Ludhiana before entering Rajasthan. Industrial and dairy effluents, domestic sewage and solid waste pollute its water.