Contaminated canal water raise concerns in Abohar and Fazilka

FAZILKA: Contaminated canal water has become a major concern in Abohar and Fazilka. The Abohar Branch Canal, which originates from the Ferozepur feeder at the Harike headworks, carries water to Fazilka, supplying numerous villages through its distributaries, is found unfit not only for humans but agriculture and thus raising alarm among farmers and other residents. The area of Abohar and Fazilka heavily relies on canal water since the sub-surface water is unfit for drinking.
Although the wheat crop does not require water at this stage but residents are feeling scarcity of water for drinking as the canal carries contaminated black water from the last couple of weeks, making it unsuitable for storage in overhead tanks at waterworks, which supply filtered water to households. The farmers maintained that it appeared that the water released after the reconstruction and repair work of the canal carried waste that had accumulated during the past few weeks.
Farmers from Fazilka district, who recently visited the Harike headworks in Ferozepur, the point from where water is released into these canals, found that the discoloured and polluted water was present right at the source. The Harike headworks are fed by the Sutlej and Beas rivers. The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spokespersons Subhash Sehgal and Amar Singh Bishnoi said the state government had not been able to tackle the problem faced by people in Fazilka district and neighbouring Sriganganagar that was called “Punjab of Rajasthan”.
Bishnoi said Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma last week visited Harike Barrage and Ferozepur headworks through which water was supplied to canals in remote areas of Abohar, Fazilka, Jalalabad in Punjab and Sriganganagar in Rajasthan. He, along with a cavalcade of officials, too watched the brackish water flowing.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation Abohar had refused to accept black water supply and kept the inlets shut, fearing such toxic water could not be cleaned even by the new water treatment plant that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had inaugurated a few months ago. Most of the councillors confirmed that consumers in their wards could not be supplied water as only four tube-wells were operational to store and supply groundwater and the demand for water had increased manifold due to the rising temperature.
When contacted, Vinod Suther, Executive Engineer, Abohar Canal Division said that the contamination was due to the accumulation of silt and waste in the Harike Barrage pond area. As Rajasthan canals emanating from the barrage were not drawing water to their capacity owing to different reasons, silt continued to flow in the canal system that fed Abohar and the surrounding areas and the senior authorities had been duly informed about this situation. Water was being accepted only for farming here. Improvement in the quality of water was expected soon, he added.
On Thursday, environment activist and Punjabi film industry producer and director Amitoj Mann visited Abohar to interact with farmers. Mann said,” Contaminated water is coming from Ludhiana and even from Himachal Pradesh, where industrial growth is happening. “The government needs to act serious to ensure the supply of safe drinking water to masses,” he added.