Water is a precious commodity in every arid country in the world as it sustains life .The demand for water has increased over the years and this has led to water scarcity in many parts of the world.. India is heading towards a freshwater crisis mainly due to improper management of water resources and environmental degradation, which has lead to a lack of access to safe water supply to millions of people. This freshwater crisis is already evident in many parts of India, varying in scale and intensity depending mainly on the time of the year. The situation is aggravated by the problem of water pollution or contamination

 Water pollution happens when toxic substances enter lakes, streams, rivers, oceans, and other water bodies, they get dissolved or lie suspended in water or get deposited on the bed. This results in the pollution of water whereby the quality of the water deteriorates, affecting aquatic ecosystems. Pollutants can also seep down and affect the groundwater deposits. In reality water pollution is every impact which changes the quality of our surface and subsoil waters to such a degree that its suitability either for human consumption or for the support of man `s natural life processes will decrease or cease.

 In Punjab the quality of  water  has become vulnerable in a number of areas  due to intensive agriculture, increased urbanization and industrialization. Example, industrial effluents like hazardous wastes and heavy metals are discharged into the Budha Nala in Ludhiana. Pollution also occurs when aquifers are recharged with irrigation water contaminated with agricultural chemicals and fertilizers.  For Punjab, its very existence is based on water as the economy has been based on agriculture and dependent on irrigation. But Apart from Agriculture,  water requirement for the industry also shows an overall increase in Punjab. Intense competition among users — agriculture, industry, and domestic sectors — is driving the groundwater table lower. The quality of groundwater is getting severely affected because of the widespread pollution of surface water. Besides, discharge of untreated waste water through bores and leachate from unscientific disposal of solid wastes also contaminates groundwater, thereby reducing the quality of fresh water resources.

Water pollution has many sources. The most polluting of them are the city sewage and industrial waste discharged into the rivers. The facilities to treat waste water are not adequate in any city in Punjab. Presently, only about 10% of the waste water generated is treated; the rest is discharged as it is into our water bodies. Due to this, pollutants enter groundwater, rivers, and other water bodies. Such water, which ultimately ends up in our households, is often highly contaminated and carries disease-causing microbes. Pollution of the rivers in the state has been progressively increasing over a time due to industrialization and urbanization etc. The Punjab Pollution Control Board has identified 15547 polluting industries under the provision of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act. Out of these 9465 are Red Category Units ( 288 LSUs, 340 MSUs & 8837 SSUs ) and 6082  are Green Category Units ( 2775 SS Moderately Polluting & 3307 SS Marginally Polluting).

 Status of Water Polluting Industries of Punjab

                                                                                                                             Source: PPCB
                                                                                ETP : Effulent Treatment Plants

In Punjab, most of the municipal committees directly or indirectly  discharging their waste water into the major rivers, very few among them has installed the S.T.Ps (Sewerage Treatment Plants). The number of  Municipal Committes discharging  their water  waste into different rivers are as:-

Ø      14 MCs  into Satluj River

Ø        8 MCs  into Beas River

Ø      13 MCs  into Ghaggar River

Ø       8 MCs  into  East Bein Drain

Ø      2  MCs  into  Budha Nala Drain

Ø      3  MCs  into   Lissara Drain

Ø      1  MC    into   Hudiara Drain

Ø      1  MC   into   Patiala  Nadi Drain

In central Punjab the problem of water pollution is becoming very acute day by day . In  Ludiana the rapidly increasing urbanisation and indstrilazation have adversely affected the city's water resources.  The only surface water body Budha Nala, an unlined canal, is the main recepter of city's domestic and industrial sewage.  As a result of perrenial flow of sewage in Budha Nala, it has become an open sewer.  The Budha Nala is polluted to the extent that self-purification mechanism does not take place even at the most downstream point where it merges in the River Satluj.  The ground water quality is no better.  On one hand the industries are injecting untreated effluent to it, stagnated effluent in the nearby areas also leaches  pollutants.  In addition, Budha Nala is also playing an indirect key role in ground water pollution.  Ground water in most of the industrial estate and in few residential areas are unfit for drinking. In comparision to deep water aquifer, shallow water is seriously affected. The city not only faces a severe water pollution problem; depletion of ground water resources due to excessive and unsustainable pumping is another serious problem. Residents of Ludhiana city and at least of 40 villages in the district are forced to consume contaminated vegetables and drink unsafe water, thus exposing themselves to water-borne diseases. The villages are situated along Budha Nullah, which carries Ludhiana’s untreated industrial waste into Sutlej, making the river water almost black at the point of confluence.

With no check on the pollution of river water, villages using the river water for drinking and irrigation are getting affected. As per a study, it has found that the nullah has polluted ground water up to 1,200 metres on right and 250 metres on its left side. The water turbidity (pollution) was 363.5 mg per litre against the permissible limits of 5 mg per litre. Total hardness was 409 mg per litre against the permissible limit of 200 mg per litre. Ammonical nitrogen was as high as 31.7 mg per litre against the limit of 0.5 mg per litre. The extent to Pollution is as such that  the  water of Budha nallah(Ldh.), Hudiara nallah(Asr), and Patiala  nadi( Pat.)  are  not fit for supporting any aquatic life.The ground water of Ludhiana ,Amritsar, Jalndhar and Nangal have high TDS and hardness.  Similar Problems are also reported along the adjoining areas of other rivers of Punjab.

The agriculture  practices also playing the key role in Polluting the water in Punjab. The use of land for agriculture and the practices followed in cultivation greatly affecting the quality of groundwater. Intensive cultivation of crops causes chemicals from fertilizers (e.g. nitrate) and pesticides to seep into the groundwater, a process commonly known as leaching.  Agricultural run-off, or the water from the fields that drains into rivers, is another major water pollutant as it contains fertilizers and pesticides. The water run off from agriculture lands pollutes lakes and streams causing eutrophication.  Routine applications of fertilizers and pesticides for agriculture and indiscriminate disposal  agriculture waste are increasingly being recognized as significant sources of water pollution. The high nitrate content in groundwater is mainly from irrigation run-off from agricultural fields where chemical fertilizers have been used indiscriminately.

                  Recently, groundwater samples collected from 21 to 38 m deep tubewells located in cultivated fields of Dehlon, Sudhar, Ludhiana, kartarpur, Jandialaguru and Malerkotla blocks of Punjab contained geometric mean NO₃--N  concentration of 3.62 mg/l. Respectively 78 and 22 percent  samples contained less than 5 and 5-10 mg NO₃-N per litre ( Bajwa et al.). Higher nitrate concentration in groundwater were observed in areas under rice, maize and orchids. Although observed nitrate–N level  are well below the critical limit  of 10mg  NO₃ –N per litre(WHO), one must keep in mind that rate of water  recharge from deep percolation is so slow that possible nitrate pollution of aquifers from modern technology will take decades. But the seriousness of the problem lies in that once nitrate-N gets into the aquifer, decades  will be required to replace the water with low nitrate–N  water.

The effects of water pollution are not only devastating to people but also to animals, fish, and birds. Polluted water is unsuitable for drinking, recreation, agriculture, and industry. It diminishes the aesthetic quality of lakes and rivers. More seriously, contaminated water destroys aquatic life and reduces its reproductive ability. Eventually, it is a hazard to human health. Nobody can escape the effects of water pollution.

The Punjab Pollution control Board (PPCB) has been putting a lot of efforts to strive  towards excellent environment in state by enforcing the various laws and acts. To conserve environment in the state is not the single handed role of PPCB , everyone has   a responsibility to look after the ecology of the state .The effective answer to the water pollution is to integrate conservation and development activities – from water extraction to water management – at the local level; making communities aware and involving them fully is therefore critical for success. All this will ultimately pave the way for combining conservation of the environment with the basic needs of people. The individual and the community can help minimize water pollution. By simple agricultural ,industrial  and housekeeping  management practices the amount of waste generated can be minimized. It is not too late yet, The water conservation measures, proper management techniques and ecological conservation should be given serious consideration. There is an urgent need to take a holistic approach to the whole issue  of water pollution and  take steps to reverse the current trends and develop sustainable development  in Punjab.