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Water Pollution in Punjab——Click here

Editorial

Topic:- 150 villages in Moga district have polluted water resources.

Background; A water supply and sanitation department report says that out of 337 villages in Moga, around 150 villages boast of polluted water resources.

Traces of Uranium and other heavy metals have been found.
Apart from Uranium, Aluminium, Nitrate, Iron, Nickel, lead etc have also been found.

The factsheet about the pollutants is:-

Uranium in 82 villages. ( Including district headquarters in Moga).
Aluminium in 21 villages.
Mercury and Selenium in one village.
Iron in 35 villages.
Nitrate, Iron, Nickel and Lead in 52 villages.
Also, the quantity of Uranium is 50% over and above the WHO norms.
Around 3000 persons have died in the region due to various types of carcinogenic or cancer-causing diseases.
So, in this regard, the Punjab government will undertake the Surface Water Supply Scheme ( at the estimated cost of rupees 176.11 crores) to provide canal water for the villages.

Some problems have surfaced in the water resources of the state:-

The overexploitation of groundwater resources.
Cultivation of water-guzzling crops such as rice.
Erratic rainfall pattern, leading to drying up of surface water sources.
Dumping of industrial effluents and other Wastes into the rivers and rivulets. E.g. langar wastes and municipal wastes are being dumped. Into holy Kali Bein.
Lack of initiative from the government as well as the civil society.

What can be done:-

Aquifer management and mapping studies could be undertaken to know the actual situation of the groundwater.
Sustainable management of wetlands and surface water resources.
The experts such As Rajinder Singh ( the waterman of India ) could be roped in.
Besides, Involvement of citizens should be bolstered as water conservation should be turned into a social revolution.