Report finds high levels of toxicity in Punjab rivers
Chandigarh , July 3
The rivers of Punjab are facing an ecological crisis as the pollution level has increased tremendously resulting in a threat to thousands of people and aquatic life.According to a report prepared by the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, “A State of Environment, 2005”, during the past two decades, rapid industrialisation and agricultural practices have heavily polluted the fresh water resources of Punjab, both in physio-chemical and biological terms.
Industrial, domestic and agricultural waste accumulates in the aquatic ecosystems and then enters the primary, secondary and tertiary webs of the food chain.The report, funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, says the Punjab Pollution Control Board has identified 15,547 polluting industries under various provisions of water and air Acts.The Sutlej, which enters Punjab near Nangal, is the most polluted river of the state. Its toxicity level is high at Nangal (due to effluents from NFL, PNFC and Punjab Alkalies), Kiratpur Sahib (due to human ashes), Ropar (due to effluents from the Ropar Thermal Plant, DCM, Swaraj Mazda and United Pulp and Paper Mills), Ludhiana (due to the confluence of the Budha Nullah) and Gidderpindi village (due to the confluence of the East Bein).
The report says at the Nangal headworks the water quality is generally class “A” with sufficient dissolved oxygen content. Downstream, the river receives effluents from industries and municipal wastes. The water quality deteriorates from class “B” to “E”.At Humbran village in Ludhiana district, where the Budha Nullah falls into the Sutlej, the water quality deteriorates to class “D” or “E”.
The report says the river stretch from Ludhiana to Harike has been identified as the most polluted. Two municipal corporations (Ludhiana and Jalandhar) and 27 municipal councils and notified area committees are discharging municipal wastes into the river.A report published by the Indian Ecological Society, Ludhiana, in 1984 said 56 species of fish were recorded in the Budha Nullah in 1967. Now not even a single species of any aquatic fauna exists in the stretch.The Beas is comparatively less polluted. It enters Punjab at Talwara, where the quality of water is class “A”. The water gets polluted at Mukerian (due to effluents from Mukerian Paper Mills) and Goindwal Sahib.
The Ghaggar gets effluents from ABC Ltd, Hindustan Lever, Stepan Chemicals, RMI Ltd and Bharat Commerce India Ltd at Rajpura; Patiala Distillers and Hindustan Wire Products at Patiala; and Escorts and Goetze India Ltd at Bahadurgarh.Besides industrial and municipal pollution, nutrients and pesticides run off from agricultural fields during the rainy season also enter the rivers.The report says the consumption of plant nutrients per unit of gross cropped area is the highest in Punjab (167 kg/ha) as compared to other states.There is dire need for a long-term action plan to check river pollution in the state.