Budha River: Is the poisoned water being used to eliminate Punjabis?
Ludhiana-Walipur Kalan village is the place where the black water of Budha Nallah merges with the Sutlej River. The polluted water of Budha River is seen flowing along the Sutlej River for several kilometers as a black stream. There was a time when the water of Budha River was clean and they used this water for irrigation of fields as well as for drinking. During the British rule, it has also been called Budha River in the Gazetteer of Ludhiana district of 1904.
This gazetteer also says that the water of this river is completely clean and except during floods, it is also used for drinking. At one time, a fair was held on the banks of Budha Nallah and people used to bathe in it. Gradually, the polluted water of Ludhiana started coming into it and now the situation is that even standing here has become difficult.
The Budha River, which runs through the entire city from the eastern part of the metropolis, has become more than dangerously polluted. From Kum Kalan to the Satluj River, the toxic water discharged from industrial units and dairies has severely polluted the Budha River. In the past, dyes, hazardous chemicals from electroplating units and excrement from dairies, which were secretly dumped in this source of clean water, have turned the Budha River into a dirty drain. According to estimates, the STP plants installed to clean the toxic water containing chemicals from the factories are not functioning properly, and the polluted water is flowing into the Budha River. Around 230 dyeing units, thousands of industrial units and electroplating units operating in the metropolis near the river also discharge water into the Budha Nallah without completely cleaning it. Along with this, the sewage waste of the city dwellers also plays an important role in polluting the Budha River. The Budha Nallah, which has fallen victim to human selfishness, has become so polluted today that it is spreading life-threatening diseases not only to the people of the villages coming in its path but also to the residents of other districts. Cancer, black jaundice, asthma, serious kidney and skin diseases are rapidly engulfing the people of the state. The money hunger of a few rich people is making the entire people of Punjab a victim of terrible diseases. According to the villagers, the poisonous water of the dirty Nallah has swallowed countless precious lives in the last one decade. In every household, many members have been affected by jaundice, cancer, asthma, dental diseases, skin diseases. There is hardly a house in the village, which has not been affected by polluted water. The heads of young children are covered with white hair. A large part of the income of most households in the villages is being spent on the treatment of diseases. According to government statistics of 2015, there are an average of 107 cancer patients per one lakh in Muktsar, Mansa, Bathinda and Ferozepur, out of which only in Muktsar this average is more than 136 patients per one lakh. There is a fear that the situation will get worse after 9 years of this survey.
According to the report of the Punjab government’s Action Committee formed in 2019 to clean the Sutlej River, one of the reasons for polluting the river was the water of the Budha River in Ludhiana. Several governments came and released funds for cleaning the drain, set up treatment plants but the Budha River could not be cleaned. Over the past years, the state government has taken several initiatives for cleaning the river. These include setting up sewage treatment plants, joint treatment plants for treating industrial waste or wastewater. Still, the results have not been satisfactory.
