Faridkot/Harike - TOXIN UNLEASHED: Sirhind and Rajasthan feeder canals become deathbed of aquatic life Mohan, who sells ice-cream near the banks of Sirhind and Rajasthan feeder canals in the periphery of Faridkot, has a choice to put up his mobile stall elsewhere. But, a few metres away along the banks, Mool Chand, the railway gateman at crossing number C-29 has no alternative but to live with the foul smell emanating from the canals and see perished aquatic life floating on the filthy waters. The Sirhind and Rajasthan feeder canals-- which, besides being agriculture's lifeline, also provide drinking water to the people in Malwa belt and a few areas in Rajasthan-- have turned into deathbeds of fishes and other aquatic life forms. The Faridkot Public Health Department that used to take water from Sirhind canal for drinking has stopped doing so. "I am writing to the government to look into the matter and take necessary action," said Faridkot Public Health Executive Engineer Sohan Lal. "At 11:30 pm yesterday, I noticed foul smell. In the morning, I saw dead fishes floating on the dirty water surface," said railway gatekeeper Mool Chand. "I have been selling ice-cream here for the past two months and never saw the water so dirty and black," ice-cream vendor Mohan said. Chhote Lal, a brick kiln worker, said he had been working near the canals for the last five years, but had seen pollution of this magnitude for the first time. "It appears to be sewerage and drainage waste," said another person Palwinder Singh. Sources said wastes of a few cities in Doaba may have been released into the Satluj, which subsequently made its way to the canals, via Harike head works. When this correspondent visited the sites today, dead fishes were floating on the black water at Faridkot and Harike. "Some fishes looked as heavy as of 10 kilograms," said Phoola Singh, a beldar along the banks of the canals. "We have been rendered jobless," rued Nibu Lal, a fisherman at Harike. However, Executive Engineer, Canals, Harike division, Ramkaran Singh Chaudhry said, "The mixing of toxin has not taken place in my jurisdiction. It is likely to be industrial waste from Ludhiana that got mixed after the downstream water was released towards this side.' Chief Secretary RI Singh said a Rs 300-crore project to tackle the problem of toxic inflow was in the pipeline. Most likely, it would have been the solid waste lying around Buddha Nullah that got mixed due to excessive rains, he added.