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 | In hot water Our Correspondent The water of Punjab is said to have such properties as to keep digestion in order and support a good body constitution. This is the reason that the term ' Paani Punjab ka' entered common parlance; it even found a mention in a song of Prem Pujari in the early 1970s. That was then. In the three and a half decades, romance has died; and the reality that has emerged is disconcerting, if not frightening. A report conducted by PGI, the region's premier government hospital, has found a high degree of groundwater contamination in large parts of Punjab. Not only that, the contamination has already caused massive DNA toxicity and DNA damage among a large number of Punjabis. The factors are not unfamiliar: haphazard industrialisation, improper disposal of effluents into the state's various water bodies, indiscriminate use of poisonous pesticides by farmers. Heavy metals have entered the food chain, intensifying the prevalence of congenital deformities, cancer cases and kidney damage. In fact, an abnormal rise in such diseases made bureaucrats, technocrats and politicians wake up to the danger of groundwater pollution. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) was prompt to commission the study to PGI aimed at looking for solutions. "The report is very worrying indeed," said Yogesh Goel, Chairman, PPCB. "There is clear evidence that exposure to pesticides and irrigation of fields with highly contaminated drain water is leading to neuro, reproductive and gene toxicity." Fortunately, politicians in the state are also showing concern. MP and Shiromani Akali Dal's working president Sukhbir Badal has been quoted in a news report, saying, "Organic is the only way out. Pesticides are ruining our people's health and the only way to save ourselves is to stop using these and go the natural way." While the state authorities are trying to address the serious farm sector problems in a no-nonsense fashion, the powers that be at the Centre are still enchanted with outdated paradigms and discredited policy frameworks. Consider Reserve Bank Governor YV Reddy's recent meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the recommendations of the Radhakrishna Committee on rural indebtedness. Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also said to have attended the meeting. And what did all the grandees do? They discussed, among other things, rescheduling of loans and waiver of interest burden up to two years and a one-time relief to farmers who are paying exorbitant interest to money lenders to be provided by banks through long-term loans among others. It is time our policy makers gave up the triteness of the Nehruvian era and did some lateral thinking. Posted on : 11/29/2007 Mail this article to your friend |