Student shows the way, takes up the issue of water contamination

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

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 tehsil.

Shubhreej Kaur, daughter of Congress candidate Yadwinder Singh Dhindsa and a Class XII student, 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 posed a far greater threat to the state’s future than any political rivalry.