Social workers stage protest over canal water pollution

To express solidarity with the “Zehar se Mukti” campaign, many social workers on Tuesday staged a dharna outside Nehru Park in Abohar. They condemned those factories which regularly discharged chemical laden water into Buddha drain of Ludhiana.

Those who attended the protest included Kamal Kishore Khurana, Rajinder Kaur, Sukhjit Singh Danewalia, Rakesh Sachdeva, Sudhir Bhadu, Ravinder Singh Gill, Surinder Singh Dhinganwali, Chanpreet Singh Khalsa, Subhash Baghla and Krishan Lal Jaura.

They sent a memorandum to the government through Sub-Divisional Magistrate Krishna Pal Rajput, demanding that the decades-long illegal practice of discharging chemical-laden water from factories to Sutlej and Harike through Buddha drain needed to be stopped. They stated that discharging dirty water into canals was a clear violation of the Water Act 1974.

The protestors also cited disturbing reports of widespread health issues caused by polluted water. According to attendees, nearly half the population of Gidderanwali village had developed jaundice and six people in Shergarh village died from cancer. In Dangar Khera village, 67 cancer patients were identified, with 11 fatalities. Additionally, Nai Abadi village witnessed alarming environmental damage, including dead animals, chickens, and thousands of fish floating in canals due to toxic water.

In a related incident, farmer leader Sukhjinder Singh Rajan was detained by the police inside his home on Monday night.

A bus carrying farmers was also stopped by the police on Tuesday morning near the truck operators’ union in Abohar.