Work On River

Sant Seechewal mobilized numberless people (Sangat) round the globe for the voluntary kar sewa of rejuvenation of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s historic river Kali Bein, 160-km long tributary of the Beas, flowing through Doaba, the fertile central part of Punjab, known as the Granary of India. When Sant Seecyewal began the kar sewa in July 2000, the Kali Bein river was on the verge of death due to worst type of domestic and industrial pollution. Sant Seechewal, with the help of his Sangat, has cleared hyacinth and silt out of the bed of river, restored flow of clean water in it and beautified it with flowers and fruit trees, bathing ghats and bricked roads on its banks, transforming it into a picnic spot where the religious pilgrims, students and tourists from India and abroad come daily in large numbers to have a glimpse of its beauty.

Work On Underground sewerage System

Sant Seechewal has devised an underground sewerage system which is low-cost and indigenously modeled, but very effective, durable and easy to install. The efficacy of this system has been attested by its practical installation in more than 50 villages and towns. In this system, sewage waters are stored in a pond, treated in natural way and, then, supplied for agricultural use. This process promotes organic farming and saves farmers’ money on fertilizers and irrigation. The farmers of the area who, being crop-less and poor, were compelled to commit suicides, are glad to have a taste of prosperity as a result of Sant Seechewal’s kar sewa of the river.

Work On the Roads

Often remembered as “Baba of Roads”, Sant Seechewal has built thousands of kms of roads in backwards areas, which has set in a new era of faster economic and social development in this area.Work 

Problem of Pollution of Kali Bein

Problem of Pollution of Kali Bein  

But like other rivers and streams of India and Punjab, the Kali Bein could not retain its old glory and purity. It also fell a prey to commercialization, urbanization, and industrialization of Doaba..  The govt. was busy celebrating growth of industry but ignorant of evils which it was bringing in its train. This ignorance amounted to a criminal negligence. In most of the cases the authorities did not only lack will power, but also assumed this attitude consciously. They did not  bother about anything beyond their own narrow vested interests. Lawmakers became lawbreakers.The evil went on growing unchecked. Our environment has steeply deteriorated. Our water and air have got utterly polluted  The protectors have become party to pollution.          In this situation the deterioration of Kali Bein is quite understandable. Most villages near Kali Bein daringly directed  sewage into it. The sites allotted for making ponds to serve as storage for sewage waters vanished due to unlawful possessions by  powerful people. In many villages the govt even sanctioned grants for such projects to install sewerage systems as conveyed their dirty waters directly into the Bein. This constant pollution of the Kali Bein has affected the life in this region in more than one way:         Firstly, the polluted effluents into the Bein, which also include poisonous chemical wastage of factories and highly infectious wastage of hospitals, are seeping into the ground and polluting the underground water also. It is a permanent and irreparable damage to drinkable water. It is not only slow poisoning of the present generation but also of the posterities. It is adversely affecting health of the people who live on the banks of the Bein and drink polluted water drawing it out with hand pumps. That is why various kinds of fatal diseases are spreading in this area. Thus, pollution of the flowing waters of the Bein with the poisonous sewage water is great hazard for public health. ·    

        Secondly, the polluted sewerage waters flowing into the rivers in general and Kali Bein in particular bring with them clayey mud and spread it over the bed of flowing water to make a thick layer of silt and thus, stopping the pores of the earth and preventing the process of recharging of water table. As a result, river water remains slipping over the surface and fails to enter the bowls of the earth.          Thirdly, the Kali Bein is a Holy river, being the first pilgrimage for the followers of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Gursangat from far and wide visit it to have a holy glimpse of it, take holy dip into it and drink its water believing it to be an elixir, the cure-all. Polluting the waters of this and other holy rivers is hurting the feelings of the Gursangat.  ·    Fourthly, this polluted river water goes to the areas where people have to drink it directly and use it in religious rites and for preparing prasad in the temples and gurdwaras. It is an unpardonable sin to offer our dirt and waste for others' use like this.     No doubt, the Constitution of India makes provision for the prevention of pollution of river waters. THE WATER (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) RULES, 1975 (Ch.V, 24:1) reads like this:

“24. PROHIBITION ON USE OF STREAM OR WELL FOR DISPOSAL OF POLLUTING MATTER, ETC.  (1) Subject to the provisions of this section --  (a) no person shall knowingly cause or permit any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter determined in accordance with such standards as may be laid down by the State Board to enter (whether directly or indirectly) into any stream or well or sewer or on land; or  (b) no person shall knowingly cause or permit to enter into any stream any other matter which may tend, either directly or in combination with similar matters, to impede the proper flow of the water of the stream in a manner leading or likely to lead to a substantial aggravation of pollution due to other causes or of its consequences.”

    The respected Chief Minister of Punjab talking to newsmen at Patiala, on 12/2/2006, said that the Punjab government would cooperate with Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and leave no stone unturned to restore the purity of the Holy Kali Bein. In the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, on 1/3/2006, he declared that not a single drop of polluted water would be allowed to enter the Holy Kali Bein. Prohibitory order u/s 144 Cr. P.C. was repeatedly passed to disallow the flowing of sewerage water of towns and villages in the rivulet on 20/10/2005, 27/12/2005 and 29/4/2006 by the D.C. of Kapurthala.      But  inspite of all these orders dirty waters continued polluting the Holy Bein. D.C  admitted  in Project Report submitted to  C. M. :      “On May 5th 2006 I, Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal along with Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, IAS and all concerned Officers inspected the Bein from village Dhanoa to Sultanpur Lodhi and identified the places at which sewerage water was flowing into the sacred rivulet. It was found that sewerage water from Dasuya, Tanda (In Hoshiarpur District), Begowal, Bholath, Kapurthala, Rail Coach Factory (In Kapurthala District) and 62 villages in Kapurthala and 13 villages in Hoshiarpur is flowing into the Bein.” (Project Report: Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Sacred Kali Bein: Presented to , C. M., Punjab on 30th May 2006).