Pollution in Indian rivers - The Sutlej cas

Around 80% of India's water is severely polluted because people dump raw sewage, silt and garbage into the country's rivers and lakes.

 Pollution in Indian rivers - The Sutlej case

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• The story: Around 80% of India's water is severely polluted because people dump raw sewage, silt and garbage into the country's rivers and lakes. This has led to water being undrinkable and the population having to rely on illegal and expensive sources. Each year, more than 1.5 million Indian children die from diarrhea. In 2018, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India's nodal pollution monitoring agency, had identified over 351 polluted river stretches across India. The Chambal River is one of the cleanest river of India, and hosts amazing species of mugger and gharial, freshwater turtles, gangetic river dolphins and Indian skimmers.
• NGT orders: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Punjab and Rajasthan governments to submit quarterly compliance reports to Jal Shakti ministry about remedial action being taken to curb the inflow of effluent discharge into the Satluj and Beas. The pollution in river Sutlej has posed serious health threats to the people living around the Indira Gandhi Canal.
• Source of Sutlej’s pollution: There are three major sources for pollution in the Buddha Nallah (tributary) -

1. Untreated sewage waste from Ludhiana city sewage treatment plants (STP)
2. Untreated industrial effluents from dyeing units and outlets that directly release sewage and industrial waste into the stream
3. Small-scale industries like units on electroplating, hosiery, steel rolling mills, etc mainly contribute to the wastewater in the nallah

• Data: Buddha Nullah contributes about 16,672 kilogram a day of BOD load and East Bein (a rivulet in Doaba in Punjab) contributes about 20,900 kg/day of BOD load. The more the organic matter (e.g., in sewage and polluted bodies of water), the greater the BOD; and the greater the BOD, the lower the amount of dissolved oxygen available for higher animals such as fishes.

1. Leather industry - Another seasonal rivulet, Chitti Bein and its sub-drain, Kala Sanghian drain, in the Jalandhar district are responsible for high pollution in the Sutlej river. The untreated discharge from Jalandhar’s leather goods industry is one of the major reasons behind Chitti Bein’s pollution.
2. Components - Traces of chromium and arsenic can be found in the Sutlej after the confluence of Buddha Nullah. Prevalence of mercury, lead, chromium, cadmium and selenium in more than permissible limits (MPL) in the groundwater and surface water in and around drains like Buddha Nallah, Chitti Bein and Kala Sanghian. Heavy metals and pesticides were also detected in fodder, vegetable, milk, urine and blood samples.

• Indira Gandhi Canal: The longest canal in India is impacted too. It starts from Harike Barrage, a few kilometres below the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab, flows through Ludhiana and terminates in the Thar Desert in northwest Rajasthan. It is a source of drinking and irrigation in the north and western Rajasthan, and provides water to 1.75 crore people living in 7,500 villages across eight districts in the state. The water in the Indira Gandhi canal has apparently turned black due to the presence of pollutants in it. The pollution has caused several health complications among people such as skin diseases, gastroenteritis, indigestion and loss of eyesight.
• Sutlej river: The ancient name was Zaradros (Ancient Greek) Shutudri or Shatadru (Sanskrit). It is the longest of the five tributaries of the Indus River that give the Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) its name. Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Satluj are main tributaries of Indus. It rises on the north slope of the Himalayas in Lake La’nga in southwestern Tibet, flowing northwestward and then west-southwestward through Himalayan gorges, it enters and crosses Himachal Pradesh before beginning its flow through the Punjab plain near Nangal. It receives the Beas River (and forms 105 km) of the India-Pakistan border before entering Pakistan and flowing another 350 km to join the Chenab River west of Bahawalpur. Sutlej River meets the Beas River in Harike in the Ferozpur district before entering Pakistan. The combined rivers then form the Panjnad, the link between the Five Rivers and the Indus.
• Summary: It is time for decisive action from the authorities, as people's lives and livelihoods are being affected on a daily basis.

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