The Sant Who Believes In Some Direct Action

Baba Seechewal now slams 

Pollution Control Board, says he 

will plug the polluting rivulet 

himself since govt doesn’t 

want to. Clearly, it’s a war cry

Sukhjit Kaur

JALANDHAR: At a time when Arundhati Roy is talking about Gandhians with Guns, Punjab is witnessing a clear revolt by a Sant who, tired of the unholy nexus of the powerful with the corporates, is not shy of calling the spade a bloody shovel. Further, he plans to do something about it and has served notice.

Green crusader and Punjab Pollution Control Board member, Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, who commands a strong following of thousands of devotees, has been fighting to stop the flow of untreated waste into the Kala Sanghian drain by the district administration and pollution control authorities have done precious little except assure him repeatedly, set new deadlines and making a show of their respect for Baba Seechewal.

Now, Seechewal has made clear that he cares little for such shows of respect which mean little. Accompanied by panchayats and people from villages that have been suffering because of the polluted water, Seechewal landed at the site himself and announced that he will wait no more and his devotees will plug the rivulet themselves.

The drain that flows between Gazipur and Chamiara carries a massive 12.9 crore liters of untreated effluents from industry and municipal corporations at any given time. 

Seechewal minced no words in even slamming the Board of which he is a member, underlining that it is not always possible to co-op everyone with a conscience into the system and corrupt him suitably.

Seechewal said he and the villagers have persistently taken up the issue for two years, but authorities chose to put thousands of lives at risk. In the Malwa belt and in Rajasthan, natives drink this water for want of an alternative water  source.

“People living in the 80 and more villages along the banks of the drain, which courses Doaba and Malwa region and part of Rajasthan, have suffered increasing incidence of respiratory diseases, skin, kidney, hair disorders and cancer for over 15 years, but the government has failed to act against industrial units. Let the cities handle their effluents themselves. Villagers will not allow it to flow into their territory,” he said. “If they can’t treat the water they have no right to throw dirty water in a natural drain and it is clearly illegal,” Baba Seechewal said. 

Seechewal’s warnings earlier had brought matters to a head in February 2008 and he no more ready to rest with deadlines.

Earlier, March 31 was the deadline given by the officials to stop flow of a major chunk of untreated water in the drain, which was then extended to April 30 and later to May 31 but nothing has been done even though even June has come and gone.

Seechewal and his associates Baba Sukhwant Singh, Baba Daya Singh and other religious personalities put down the inaction to the government’s alleged covert understanding with the industry and the mineral water mafia.

Strangely, Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti claimed he was not aware of the matter, thus only proving the disconnect between the people and the authorities.

Punjab is committing suicide

Punjab Today editorial
from June 19-25, 2010 edition


On a day so important for Punjab because it was the anniversary of Operation Bluestar, the mass circulation Punjabi daily 'Ajit' published an editorial on environmental concerns. Though Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard, who personally signed the editorial, did not explicitly say so, his choice of choosing to focus on the environment and poor health of Punjab's soil, water and air underlines some interlinkages that many simple minds miss. The reverse violence of Green Revolution that left in its wake unemployment, agri-stagnation, skewed development and poor social parametres formed a great component of the reasons behind the militancy years that Punjab suffered.
Within the next ten days, Dr Hamdard was back, editorially, penning yet another well argued missive on environment under the title "Sarkaran suchet hon" (Governments must stand aware). "The soil, that produces our food, has turned into poison....A sick mentality can only lead to a sick society," the editorial said.
On the same day, The Times of India carried a front page report titled "Parts of Malwa, Rajasthan drinking poison?" It revealed shocking discoveries by a German lab that had tested water samples from five villages near Fazilka. The intrepid reporter of The Times of India followed it up the next day with yet another mind-jolting report from Faridkot that revealed how even the milk that the kids are fed contains uranium traces, and doctors are now looking for solutions in camel milk.
Toxicity is all around us. It is in our food chain. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's hometown Muktsar has registered 1,074 deaths due to cancer between 2001 and November 2009 while 668 others are on their deathbed. Reports say in Lambi alone, the home constituency of Badal, 211 residents lost their lives and 164 got afflicted with cancer in the last eight years. In Gidderbaha, the constituency of finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, cancer cases are more a norm than exception.
These statistics are all from a health department survey report.
By the time scientists were fearing arsenic exposure, they are encountering uranium traces. Adults and children are suffering from cerebral palsy and mental retardation as a result.

When someone like Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, himself a member of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), says that the Punjab government is drafting anti-pollution laws only on paper and not implementing, it is time to be scared.
When editors of mass circulation newspapers start hammering a point through signed editorials, and one after the other report shrieks about the slow suicide that Punjab is committing, there should be no reason why our people, our government, and our civil society should waste even a single day in trying to stem the tide. Deathly cyanide is flowing from factories from Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Phagwara into drinking water sources. Malwa is sick. Sewage and untreated industrial waste is flowing into the rivers we worship. It is akin to someone kicking the pooja thali as you say your prayers before your deity.
Piecemeal methods will not work anymore. We need to re-think our view of what is development. We need to return towards sustainable agriculture. We need to end the chemical, radiation and biological toxicity. We are committing highway theft and robbery on resources that legitimately belong to our future generations.
There are none so blind as those who won’t see. It is time we climbed atop rooftops and shouted our neighbours, our children, our government and ourselves into doing something about what we all know is killing us. We need to deal with this problem as we would have done with a highway robbery. You don’t wait to act when you know of a dacoit planning his next hit. Punjab’s air, soil and water deserve no less.