After several pleas fail to move neighbouring state, PPCB to take it up with central board Unable to check Haryana’s industrial units from releasing their toxic waste into the Saraswati drain in Punjab, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has decided to strongly take up the matter with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). On July 5, 2012, the pollution board wrote to its Haryana counterpart on the matter, but failed to get any response. It pointed out that wastewater from Ambala units were polluting the Ghaggar. On July 16, 2012, the PPCB requested the central board to intervene. It wrote: “Please direct the officials concerned to take immediate steps to stop the discharge of domestic and industrial waste into drains which lead to the Ghaggar.” Despite the letters, nothing changed, said PPCB Chairman Ravinder Singh. The PPCB officials say that wastewater of paper and cardboard mills in Kaithal and Pehowa finds its way into the Ghaggar through the Saraswati drain. The drain has become a source of pollution for hundreds of villages along the Punjab-Haryana border. It carries a blackish-brown water that flows into the Ghaggar near Rasoli village in Patran. The Ghaggar water is used for irrigation and drinking purposes in certain villages. Ever since Ajmer Singh of Rasoli village began to till land on the banks of the Ghaggar almost a decade ago, he has taken extra care to ensure that water from the Saraswati drain does not enter his fields. “The drain emanates a pungent odour. Even the village cattle shun the drain water,” he said. He claimed that a fellow villager who irrigated his fields with the drain water had lost his entire paddy crop as the water was contaminated. “In nearby villages of Harchandpura and Chicharh, there have been more than 24 cancer deaths in the past few years owing to use of polluted water,” claimed Karminder Singh of Shutrana. “We are suffering from skin ailments and other disabilities only because our villages are located near the polluted Ghaggar,” he said. Fact of matter On July 5, 2012, the pollution board wrote to Haryana on the matter, but got no response Wastewater from Ambala units is polluting the Ghaggar, say officials Wastewater of paper and cardboard mills in Kaithal and Pehowa finds its way into the Ghaggar through the Saraswati drain The drain carries a blackish-brown water that flows into the Ghaggar near Rasoli village in Patran Recent sampling by the PPCB reveals that the biological oxygen demand (BOD) in the Saraswati drain is 100 mg/l as compared to 27 mg/l in the Ghaggar