Even though Rajasthan Chief Minister has written to CM Parkash Singh Badal to check the discharge of industrial waste in Gung and Indira Gandhi Canal, industrial units continue to dump the waste in these canals every day. Some of the units on Faridkot-Ferozepur road are discharging a large amount of pollutants in the Gung Canal near the bridge on Burji number 1,39,247, on Faridkot-Ferozepur road. Surjit Singh Dhaliwal, PPCB executive engineer in Faridkot, denied such reports even as residents of adjoining villages in the area say it is an open secret. The industrialists began discharging the effluents in the Gung Canal since residents of Golewala village objected to them dumping the waste in Sem Nala. Some days ago Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje had sought legal action against the industrial units and local bodies responsible for severely polluting the Sutlej. The high level of pollutants in Gung and Indira Gandhi canals, which are the distributaries of the Sutlej, is a cause for concern for the residents of Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner and five other districts. The Water and Irrigation Department supplies water to several homes from the two canals. Some time ago, an ‘Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna’ study revealed the chemical pollutants were leading to the spread of several waterborne diseases and cancer in Rajasthan. The study was conducted by MS Rathore, a senior professor at Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur. The study found that 70.6 per cent of the people surveyed in Rajasthan were afflicted with diseases due to bacterial and heavy metal content in the water of the canals. Deadly river An 'Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna' study revealed the chemical pollutants were leading to the spread of cancer in Rajasthan It found that 70.6 per cent of the people surveyed were afflicted with diseases due to bacterial and heavy metal content in the water of the canals