Pools of enlightenment

A YEAR ago, it was Kapurthala’s shame. Kali Bein, the stream in which Guru Nanak took a dip and got enlightenment was a cesspool of fil...

A YEAR ago, it was Kapurthala’s shame. Kali Bein, the stream in which Guru Nanak took a dip and got enlightenment was a cesspool of filth. Today, its water is clear and flowers bloom on its banks.

This transformation was brought about not by the government but by one man who inspired some villagers. Balbir Singh Seechewal, 42, may be partial to the colour saffron and may carry the prefix ‘Baba’, but it’s the gospel of work that he preaches.

And the secret of his successful mobilisation? ‘‘People are happy to follow a plan if it benefits them.’’

This graduate from DAV College, Nakodar, should know, for he’s built a record 42 roads through collective sewa.

Kali Bein too has been cleaned under his watchful eye. ‘‘I was the first to get in with a tractor and clear the weeds,’’ says Seechewal, who finally got the government to release clean water into it. ‘‘Earlier, they used to fill it with sullage,’’ he says.

Today 141 kms of the 165-km-long rivulet has been cleaned. The baba’s efforts have won him accolades from all quarters. The chief secretary, he says, has promised to release 200 cusecs of water into the rivulet from the Mukerian hydel channel.

Experts estimate that the work would have cost the government several crores. But Seechewal did it with voluntary donations — some NRIs were very generous, he says — and Rs 5.25 lakh contributed by local MP Balbir Singh from the MPLAD scheme.

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With the Kali Bein project almost over, Seechewal is now looking forward to growing fruit orchards on its banks.