Factory waste,sewage poisoning Sutlej

As per the report,D class water is highly unfit for drinking while Sutlej’s water is used for drinking by the people of Malwa region of the state as well as people in several districts of Rajasthan.

In Doaba region,the Chitti Bein has been getting maximum pollution from Kala Sanghia Drain. Even the PPCB study in the past revealed that the bein has become highly polluted because of untreated industrial and sewer waste from Jalandhar and Phagwara.

The report also revealed that of the four main rivers which flow in Punjab – Sutlej,Ravi,Beas and Ghaggar – the Ghaggar and Sutlej are the most polluted. The Beas also gets C class classification at Goindwal Sahib and Mukerian,where industrial waste is discharge into it.

A study by PPCB in the past revealed that people have been living in highly toxic environment along the Chitti Bein and even ground water quality has been affected with respect to total dissolved solids (TDS). Accumulation of chromium,nickel,zinc,and pesticides is high in the sediment of Chitti Bein. Traces of metals like chromium,nickel and zinc were detected in soil samples of the fields irrigated by the waters of the Bein. There is high level of inorganic and organic pollution in both the east Bein and the Kala Sanghia drain,said the PPCB reports.

Despite having their own reports,PPCB authorities have done little to check the flow of polluted water into the bein and the drain. PPCB Executive Engineer (XEN) Harbir Singh didn’t answer the several calls Express made to his phone.