Explained: The Kali Bein and its significance for Sikhs

Why did Bhagwant Mann drink water from it?

The occasion was the 22nd anniversary of the cleaning project, which had started on July 16, 2000. The project has been slow for years after having made remarkable progress in the initial years. Nevertheless, when Mann drank water from it directly, it was a much cleaner Kali Bein than it was before 2000.

The Kali Bein is of great significance to Sikh religion and history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment here. When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi with his sister Bebe Nanki, he would bathe in the Kali Bein. He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day. The first thing he recited was the “Mool Mantra” of the Sikh religion.

How did the cleaning project start?

It was started by environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal (now AAP Rajya Sabha MP), a former Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) member, with a handful of followers, without government help. They removed weeds, treated the water and spread awareness among residents. Six years of hard work paid off when then President A P J Abdul Kalam visited the site in 2006 and praised them for their effort. The then Congress government in Punjab then announced that it would take up the project to stop the discharge of untreated water into the rivulet.

The government identified around 73 villages in three districts releasing sewer water into the Kali Bein. The project required every village to build a large pond to collect the sewer water, which would be processed in a water treatment plant and the water then used for irrigation. The land for the ponds was to be provided by panchayats.

What is its status?

The work for 18 villages was completed in 2006-07, but the project has made very slow progress since. Today, around 30 to 40 villages and towns have illegal colonies that are discharging untreated water into the Kali Bein. Every year, a large number of fish die in the Kali Bein because of lack of oxygen in the polluted water.

In several villages, land meant for a pond has been encroached. At some places, treatment plants are not working properly and are known to often discharge untreated water. Sewerage Board officials said these plants require funds, but the government does not have enough to spare.

At one stage, the project had become a role model for river cleaning missions. The ‘Kali Bein Model’ was cited as the blueprint for the National Mission for Clean Ganga. Uma Bharti, then Union Minister for Water Resources, River Project and Ganga Rejuvenation, visited the Kali Bein in 2015, and called it a Guru Sthan for the Ganga project. She sent leaders of around 500 village panchayats to observe the model and adopt it in their villages. The Delhi government too had announced that it would adopt the model for cleaning the Yamuna.