Kusum Arora 
Jalandhar: After 40 years of unchecked contamination of Punjab’s rivers and groundwater amidst inaction by successive state governments, a group of environmental activists, farmer unions, and civil society groups from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan reached Ludhiana district on Saturday to launch the ‘Kale Pani da Morcha’ (War Against Black Water), a people’s movement aimed at combating the crisis.
Holding special white and light blue flags symbolising clean river water, placards with slogans like ‘Aayo Punjab de Dareyawa de Zehari kale pardushan nu rokiye’ (Come let’s stop the toxic black pollution of Punjab rivers), ‘Unn rangan nu saaf pani, peen layi zehari pani (Clean water to colour wool, toxic water for drinking), the activists gave an ultimatum to the Punjab government that if they failed to fix this problem, they would be forced to stop the toxic flow of effluents into the Budha Nala on September 15.
The impact of the four-decade long water pollution could be gauged from the fact that people in over dozen villages — around Budha Nala, subsequently joining the Sutlej river, Malwa belt of Punjab and seven districts of Rajasthan — were forced to drink poisoned water.
This in turn has led to diseases like cancer, hepatitis C, liver cirrhosis, skin, and eye ailments.
“The Constitution of India grants every citizen the right to life, which encompasses the right to clean water and clean air. This is (a) calculated act of genocide against Punjab made possible by the government’s deliberate negligence. We will decide the next course of action in consultation with supporting organisations”, the activists said in their statement.
Notably, Ludhiana, is famous as the ‘Manchester of Punjab’, for its record production of hosiery products. This industrial hub of Punjab is also known for dyeing, electroplating and cycle manufacturing units. The protest was held from Verka Milk Plant to Bhai Bala chowk in Ludhiana.
Third environment protest of Punjab
The Kale Pani da Morcha is the third major environment protest in the past two and half years — the first was the Rs 1000-crore Mattewara Textile Park project in Ludhiana district and the second was of Malbros International Private Limited, an alcohol making factory in Zira, Ferozepur district.
While the Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had to roll back the Mattewara Textile Park Project following severe backlash from environment NGOs, farmers unions and civil society groups in 2022, the liquor factory protest was still going on. The protest against Mattewara Textile Park was led by Public Action Committee (PAC) Mattewara.
Notably, the Mattewara Textile project was scrapped for two crucial reasons. First, it was supposed to come up at the Mattewara forest, the only surviving jungle in central Punjab. Secondly, the project was planned on the banks of the Sutlej river, which was already choked with pollution from Ludhiana’s dyeing, electroplating industries besides domestic sewerage.
The protest was led by Naroya Punjab Manch, PAC Mattewara, Bhai Ghaniya Cancer Roko Sewa Society Faridkot, Punjab Vatavaran Chetna Lehar, Zira Sangharsh Morcha, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which led farmers protests against farm laws, SKM (non-political) leading the ongoing Delhi Chalo morcha at Shambhu border besides Punjabi artists, activists, various associations and civil society groups.
The voices of Kale Pani da Morcha activists
Speaking to The Wire, Jaskirat Singh, an IT Engineer associated with the Naroya Punjab Manch said it was around 2006-2007 that this issue came into limelight.
“Though the issue was covered by the media, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), high court, National Green Tribunal (NGT) also intervened, but it failed to address the problem,” he said.
Jaskirat said that despite the setting up of three Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), coloured toxic water was being flown into the Budha Nala.
“The CETP was not effective while the PPCB too has failed to rein in the defaulter industries. It has become a complex problem now,” he added.
Now, the morcha wants to know how much time does the Punjab government need to stop the toxic flow of industrial effluents into the choked Budha Nala, which was directly polluting the Sutlej river, Jaskirat mentioned.
“If the AAP government led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann did not respond to our protest, we will stop the flow of Budha Nala on September 15, 2024. The seriousness of the Punjab government to address people’s demands could be gauged from the fact that we gave a call for Kale Pani da Morcha on June 18, 2024 and they never bothered to respond,” he added.
Jaskirat questioned chief minister Mann’s stand on such a pressing issue and said:
“As an opposition leader, he used to carry the toxic water from Budha Nala in bottles everywhere and promised a permanent solution. However, once his government came to power, he has turned silent. The harsh fact is that industrialists fund the elections of all the political parties and AAP was no different. What surprises us is that AAP came to power promising ‘Badlav’ (change in the system) but it became a part of the system itself.”
Another organiser of the morcha, Dr Amandeep Singh from PAC, Mattewara said that it was heartening to see how people were becoming aware of environmental issues in Punjab.
“People’s movement is a welcome change. Our fight is against 40 years of pollution in Budha Nala, which ultimately ruined the Sutlej river. As repeated Punjab governments failed to perform on this front, we decided to fight this war for our existence,” he said.
Statistically speaking, Amandeep shared that there were 384 dyeing units and around 2000 electroplating industries in Ludhiana, whose toxic effluents have been severely affecting the Sutlej river.
“Black water flows in Budha Nala which originates from Koom Kalan village and merges with the Sutlej river at Wallipur Kalan village both in Ludhiana district. Since the dyeing units are situated along Budha Nala, they have been dumping polluted waste water in the drain. Ideally the industry was supposed to use the CETP but neither the industrialists were following the norms nor the AAP government was serious about saving people from pollution,” he said.
He also shared that while the Tamil Nadu government stopped the use of artificial dyes in a bid to save its rivers, the Punjab government lacked the political will to take stern action against the defaulter industries.
“If everything was going on as per PPCB norms, then why did they ban 33 dyeing units in 2022 and asked 12 big units to close operations? The list of defaulters included internationally renowned names like Oswal, Vardhman and Nahar Group. Despite such blatant violations, the Punjab government gave five extensions to these industrialists. Do we need more proof?” he questioned.
Amandeep also told The Wire that around 12% people residing near Budha Nala in Wallipur Kalan, Gauspur, Kamliyal, Malakpur and Salempur villages were forced to move to other villages because of the choking pollution and foul smell from the drain.
“As per our findings around 10,000 people were directly affected due to Budha Nala’s pollution. People were suffering from life threatening diseases but governments kept ignoring the magnitude of the problem,” he added.
Rajasthan-based NGOs join hands
Rajasthan-based NGOs like Dushit Jal, Asurakshit Kal and Zehar se Mukti Andolan and others reached Ludhiana seeking clean flow of water in the Sutlej river.
Ramzan Ali from Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar and spokesperson of the NGO Dushit Jal, Asurakshit Kal told The Wire that people were becoming aware and it was no more an issue confined to Punjab’s river water pollution.
“It has become a two-state issue between Punjab and Rajasthan. Rajasthan gets water for consumption and irrigation from two major canals – Indira Gandhi Canal and Ganga Canal,” he said.
“Following the mounting pollution in the Sutlej river, around seven districts of Rajasthan namely Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Nagaur and some areas near Indo-Pak border were severely affected. People were suffering from cancer, hepatitis C and stomach diseases,” Ramzan Ali added.
The NGO which came to Ludhiana with over 100 supporters from Rajasthan has been protesting against the state and central governments for the last five years but there was no solution in sight rather the pollution level was increasing, the activist noted.
The major source of pollution in Ludhiana’s Budha Nala was the dyeing industry, electroplating industry, dairies, and the sewerage.
“Our fight is for basic rights of survival, potable water, and an end to the toxic flow of Ludhiana’s industrial water into the Sutlej river. Till the time, the water pollution in Budha Nala does not stop, we cannot expect clean water in Rajasthan canals. When we learnt about this morha, we rushed to join the civil society groups. As the governments failed to provide us a permanent solution, people’s movement was the only hope left,” he added.
The Budha Nala is a 34-kilometer-long seasonal stream which originates from Koom Kalan village in Ludhiana and flows through the district carrying toxic flow of industrial waste water to South Punjab and Rajasthan before merging with the Sutlej river.
Over the years, Budha Nala has become a symbol of acute levels of water pollution in Punjab, directly impacting the people in Punjab and Rajasthan. Though three CETPs were installed by the dyeing units and STPs were set up by the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, regular findings have found the presence of chromium and lead apart from other toxic metals in it.
Notably, the Sutlej is the longest river of Punjab and the major source of water in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Bhakra Dam, the biggest dam in India and the controversial Sutlej Yamuna Link canal was situated on the Sutlej river.
The water collected from the Sutlej river at Harike Barrage in Ferozepur district is distributed to the Malwa region of Punjab and to Rajasthan.
Additionally, the Sutlej river was also getting polluted by the toxic waste of leather tanneries of Jalandhar disrict. Despite efforts by leading environmentalist and Rajya Sabha MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal to save the Sutlej river, the issue of water pollution through the Kala Sanghian drain and the Chitti Bein in Jalandhar remains unaddressed.