'River of grief' Ghaggar, Malwa's bane and health hazard

“River of grief” is how villagers like to term the Ghaggar, which has spelt doom for over a 100 odd villages in the Malwa belt of Punjab.

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From floods, health ailments, poor land prices and even halting development – the seasonal river continues to drain the villagers, both financially and socially.

Election after election, the river remains one of the biggest poll issues for hundreds of villages in the Patiala and Sangrur Lok Sabha constituencies where it causes heavy damage when it overflows.

Residents say politicians have milked the issue and promise a solution only during the polls, but flooding continues to haunt the villagers.

During the floods of 2023, the river not only submerged crops, but the devastating floods financially crippled the entire belt.

The flooding of the Ghaggar is almost a regular feature and causes heavy losses almost once every two or three years.

“Every third house in the village has a death due to cancer or is facing a health-related issue. The river water is not fit for humans or cattle. Now, even the groundwater is contaminated due to the high level of toxins in it,” says Rasoli village resident Kulwinder Kaur, who has lost three relatives to cancer in the past six years.

Hundreds like her in over 50 villages, alongside the Ghaggar, face cancer and ailments related to skin, heart, pancreas etc, resulting in unnatural deaths, although many of which are not related to the toxic Ghaggar water due to the lack of any studies.

“Several court cases are pending and numerous letters have been written to various government departments, but nothing concrete has been done to check the flow of industrial waste, sewerage, human waste and medical waste, including direct release by distilleries into the river,” rued Gurpreet Singh Chatha, a vernacular journalist who hails from the flood-hit belt of Sanaur.

A recent report prepared by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), under the National River Monitoring Programme, shows that “D” quality water flows into the Ghaggar. Around 18 towns and villages of Punjab, in addition, discharge sewer waste into the river without any treatment, the report mentions.

“Assi tadap kay marr rahein haan. Ghar wich har thorhay din baad koi bimaar hunda hai (We are slowly dying. Every other day, someone falls ill)”, say residents of Kaami, Hassanpur Mangta and Dharamherhi villages, which are located along the river’s banks. “Health facilities are poor as no doctor wants to serve in this belt and we are referred to Government Rajindra Hospital or the PGI. Once in the PGI, it is almost sure it is cancer,” they rue.

The Ghaggar runs a course of 165 km through the state. It enters Punjab at Mubarikpur village and leaves it at Bhunder village. The PPCB data indicates that the quality of the Ghaggar at Mubarikpur is class "D", mainly because of the discharge of domestic and industrial waste into it while it flows through Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Haryana. "But, the quality of water remains class 'D' (unfit for drinking) till the river leaves Punjab and enters Haryana," reads the report.

While the PPCB does not believe that distilleries and industrial units along the Ghaggar dump waste into the river in connivance with local officials, people, living along the river banks, complain of foul and pungent smell emanating from the water body, especially during winters and pre- monsoon period, when the water flow is less.

“We are monitoring the industry and ensuring that no water is released in it. Work on ensuring 100 per cent compliance of zero sewerage release from towns and villages is being done and the work is slow due to the paucity of funds,” says a PPCB official.

A study by three experts from Punjabi University and Thapar University, Patiala, has found that the Ghaggar poses a significant health hazard to the residents of these villages, with “children facing a higher risk of developing diseases such as cancer” compared to adults.

Further, regular floods along the Ghaggar have changed social and economic practices in the villages that flank its banks. Boys of even rich landlords do not find a match in other districts because no one wants to send their daughters to places where people die year after year. “Our boys don’t find matches and good doctors and teachers look to other districts for jobs because of the floods here. I have 16 acres of fertile land, but it was only after five years of waiting that I could get a match. Girls from nearby villages want to opt out,” says Amarjit Singh from Dhanauri village.

Singh further said that the rate of land in the flood-prone villages was quite low compared to other parts of Punjab. Land rates in these villages are not even half in comparison to most of the places in Punjab. Even the government has failed to do anything, with no schools, private factories or government schemes available here.

 MP promises to take up matter with Centre

Patiala Member of Parliament Dr Dharamivira Gandhi says he had taken up the Ghaggar plan with the Central government during his tenure as the first-time MP. "I had proposed 32 check dams on the Ghaggar with 64 fish ponds to clean and treat the water which could also be used for irrigation and help people from floods. However, since Haryana was not on the same page, the plan was shelved. I will again take it up with the ministry concerned to save the villagers from floods, pollution and other problems caused by the Ghaggar," he said.