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 Scarcity of Water

While pollution and encroachments are the problems common to almost all rivers and streams, the problem of scarcity of water is peculiar to the Kali Bein. There are many reasons for this.

Firstly, as has been pointed out earlier, the Beas, which is the main source of Kali Bein, has moved away from the place of origin of the Bein with the passage of time. After parting with it, for some time, it went on supplying its water through underground flow, if not on the surface. But with the establishment of Pong Dam in 1960, the level of water in the Beas itself went down and it could not supply sufficient quantities of water for maintaining regular flow in the Bein.

Secondly, water level in Terkiana Marshland, which also fed the Bein, went down. Thirdly, due to the wrong policy of authorities concerned, the gates of Budho-Barkat Barrage, which was erected in 1932, were closed and the store of water deposited behind the barrage was not allowed to flow naturally in the Bein but directed towards the Beas again depriving the Bein of its natural right on this water. 

Moreover, the passage of the Bein got filled up with the silt flowing into it with rainwater brought by small seasonal brooks (or choes) from the Bein's catchment area in District Hoshiarpur. The thick layer of silt choked the pores of the earth. The Bein could not give outlet to huge stores of underground water which forced its way out wherever it could, for example, in the fields submerging the crops growing there. Thus agriculture in this area was the worst sufferer on this account.

            Lack of sufficient water in Kali Bein worsened its already miserable condition. Due to shortage of water in it, flow of the Bein lost its force. At some times of the year, it came to a standstill and, mixed with the polluted waters, started emitting foul smell to pollute the whole environs surrounding it. It became favourable for the speedy growth of hyacinth. At the places where it dried up altogether, the speed of encroachments was further accelerated. It was turned into a dustbin for dumping the dirt and wastage of towns and villages.