‘Protests will escalate’: Why farmers in Rajasthan, Punjab are protesting against toxic Buddha Nullah

While the issue has been simmering for years, even with the National Green Tribunal repeatedly calling on the central and state pollution boards to take action against pollution-causing units, protests have intensified over the last few months, with protesters from both states gathering at Ludhiana earlier this month to demand action against errant industrial units.

In Punjab, the civilian movement ‘Kale Pani da Morcha’, is being led by Ludhiana residents and environmentalists Amandeep Singh Bains, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, and Jaskirat Singh among others, to fight for the basic right of having access to clean water and to pressure the government to take concrete steps to clean Buddha Nullah.

Why farmers are protesting

Previously a freshwater stream known as ‘Buddha Dariya (old stream)’, Buddha Nullah originates in Ludhiana’s Koom Kalan village and runs for 47 km till Walipur Kalan, where it merges with River Sutlej. Sutlej in turn feeds water into Rajasthan’s Gang and Indira Gandhi canals.

According to farmers, over 400 factories in Ludhiana, including dyeing, textile, and leather-making units, are responsible for discharging untreated waste into the Sutlej River. The pollution is said to have intensified since 2008, severely affecting public health.

Significantly, a 2008 study by the Punjab Agricultural University revealed the presence of toxins and heavy metals in the food chain due to the use of the nullah water to cultivate vegetables and other crops.

There are three major sources polluting Buddha Nullah: untreated sewage waste from Ludhiana city Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), untreated industrial effluents from 265 dyeing units, and hundreds of “outlets” identified by civic bodies dumping all sorts of waste into the stream including cow dung from several dairies located in the vicinity of the nullah.

The Buddha Nullah is the dumping point for the city’s 265 dyeing industries, which allegedly throw their wastewater and effluents into it. Although the industry claims that only water treated at the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) is sent into the stream, activists claim that the untreated waste is what renders the water its black colour.

What has happened so far

The case is currently sub-judice in the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi. In November 2018, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a fine of Rs 50 crore on the Punjab government for failing to control pollution in Sutlej and Beas rivers.

In an order dated August 12, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) directed the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to “take appropriate action including imposing environmental compensation” on three CETPs — Tajpur road (Focal Point Module, 40 MLD), Bahadur Ke Road (15 MLD), and Tajpur Road (50 MLD) — and send an action taken report within 15 days.

In its report to the NGT, the CPCB said that the water quality of Buddha Nullah was found “non-complying” when tested for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) when compared with the general discharge effluent standards. The concentration of BOD, COD and TSS also increased in 2024 compared to 2022, the report stated.

While BOD is a parameter that represents the amount of dissolved oxygen — the amount of oxygen that is present in water — consumed by biological organisms when they decompose organic matter in water, chemical oxygen demand (COD) is the amount of oxygen consumed when the water sample is chemically oxidised and TSS measures the total amount of suspended materials in water.

All three are water quality parameters that measure the amount of pollution in water.

In its reply to NGT on August 13, CPCB stated that it had inspected the three plants and found them not meeting the disposal condition stipulated in the environmental clearance issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change for industrial effluents. The CPCB had also produced a copy of the order directing PPCB to take action and “stop discharge of effluents into Buddha Nullah”.

Have any steps been taken so far?

In September, after protests intensified, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a three-phase plan to clean the stream in a tie-up with Nebula Group and said that the target would be to “make the water fit for drinking.”

However, according to the activists, “nothing really happened on the ground” and they were “forced” to give the December 3 protest call to “stop the flow of the CETPs themselves”.

In its official response to The Indian Express, the PPCB has claimed that measures are being taken to improve the situation but admitted that 50 MLD or more of untreated water still enters Buddha Nullah.

“In addition, there are many dairies in the region which are throwing cow dung in the water and that can be a possibility of the toxicity in the water bodies,” chairman Adarsh Pal said.

However farmers claim that the pollution is due to chemicals, not cow dung.

“After our protest on December 3, the Punjab government has assured us that they will stop three major points from where toxic waste is discharged. If the demands are not fulfilled, farmers will protest in front of the Rajasthan assembly in Jaipur during the next session,” Ravindra Tarkhan, a member of All India Kisan Sabha who was part of the movement, said.

Meanwhile, Rupinder Singh Kooner, an MLA from Karanpur in Rajasthan, said he would flag the issue at the next assembly session.

“This is a serious violation of the right to a dignified life. Due to pollution, diseases are increasing and our future generation is at risk. (Raising it at the) State assembly is the only way to create pressure on the Punjab government to shut the Buddha Nullah,” he said.

In Ludhiana, Jaskirat Singh, one of the Ludhiana-based activists leading the Morcha, said protests would continue “till we do not get freedom from these black waters. Clean water, which is our basic right, is all that we are asking for”.

“The industrial profits cannot be bigger than the lives of common people,” he said.