RIVER POLLUTION

TOPIC: Geography

Context- The Sutlej and its tributaries in Punjab are extremely polluted. The state’s air quality index is a matter of deep concern.

Concept-

More than half of Punjab’s districts have reported dangerous levels of uranium, arsenic, cadmium and lead in their groundwater.

Rivers in Punjab:

Since the partition of India in 1947, only two-and-a-half Rivers of the Indus system have been flowing through Punjab.
These include the Sutlej, the Beas and some part of the Ravi.
The others — Jhelum and Chenab — now mostly flow through Pakistan, which has also been allocated their waters through the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.
Sutlej that has suffered the most from pollution.

River Sutlej:

The Sutlej is one of the fastest flowing rivers in the world.
It originates from Lake Rakshastal, near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet.
The river is 1,550 km long, passing through the Himalayas.
The Sutlej enters the plains at the town of Nangal in Punjab’s Rupnagar district. It flows through Rupnagar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Ferozepur districts, covering a distance of 440 km, before entering Pakistan.
The Bhakra dam is built on the Sutlej near Nangal. Much of the river’s water is stored in the GobindSagar reservoir for hydroelectricity.