Now oil spillage
No end to pollution of rivers

Even if it had been an accidental oil spill from a pipe of the Ropar thermal plant, it would have been unpardonable, especially because the Punjab rivers and rivulets in general and the Satluj in particular are already so heavily polluted that any fresh addition is inexcusable. Far from being apologetic for sullying the Satluj or feeling guilty about not replacing the worn-out pipes carrying furnace oil, the Punjab State Electricity Board authorities instead blamed the media for “blowing up matters”. It is this attitude that is condemnable. And it is not confined to one official or one board.

Such indifference towards water resources, right from the top to the bottom, has surfaced frequently in Punjab. Despite the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders, there has been no stopping of the discharge of toxic waste into Buddha Nullaha at Ludhiana. The rivers not only provide drinking and irrigation water to villages along their banks, but also support local flora and fauna. Ropar boasts of an international wetland, which attracts migratory birds from various countries in winter. That there is widespread insensitivity towards the preservation of water resources is obvious.

The financial loss from the oil spillage may not be much, but harm done to the environment and animal and human health is incalculable. People living along the rivers increasingly complain of liver, renal, skin and gastro diseases. There has been an alarming rise in the number of cancer cases. Villagers near the Ropar thermal plant have to live with the flyash menace. Earlier in 2005 and 2002, there were large inflows of flyash into the Satluj. Industrial units at Nangal and down the line discharge untreated effluents into the Satluj. Media reports have off and on pointed to dead fish floating on the river waters. Yet, all this has not disturbed the sleep of the pollution control board authorities.