SANT SUKHJIT SINGH: Sacred rivers dying

Jalandhar, February 16, 2013: Sant Sukhjit Singh-Deputy of Baba Seechewal of Nirmal Kutiya, Sultanpur Lodhi inaugurated a training programme to train 50 young people as trainers for rural transformation from Behram Sarista village in Jalandhar district here today at Hotel Royal Occasions.

This programme to train 250 people from five villages of Behram Sarista, Gehlan, Parjian Kalan, Kartarpur and Narangpur is organised by WAPCOS Limited, a Government of India undertaking under Ministry of water with local support of an NGO-Yuvsatta and National Welfare Foundation.

Giving a brief about the initiative SK Ahuja, Advisor to WAPCOS Limited said, “WAPCOS company is undertaking this initiative to promote water quality monitoring, water conservation, sanitation, and family welfare. Especially the problems of growing drug abuse and female foeticide in Punjab as a social responsibility of the company under CSR. In other states too we had undertaken such social projects in the fields of water conservation, solar energy, vocational education for the marginalised, health facilities for the poor etc.”

Addressing the gathering Sant Sukhjit Singh said, “ The sacred water of Satluj was used by Guru Gobind Singh as amrit to baptize Sikhs and I regret that now a central government project worth Rs. 2,200 crore for cleaning of polluted rivers of Satluj and Beas is pending awaiting support of due 25% from state government. We are living in a democracy and now the time has come when people should vote of provision of water and purity of our sacred rivers, people’s power can only impress upon the political parties to take stock of gravity of situation of water table going down, people getting polluted drinking water, rivers becoming drains and decreasing number of natural water bodies.”

Other prominent people who today spoke at the programme included Vikram Singh, Head of Naandi Foundation, Punjab, Dr. HS Lamba, PIMS, Jalandhar, Dr. Virinder Singh, Pramod Sharma-coordinator of Yuvsatta and Amrik Singh Kler, Chairman, National Welfare Foundation.

(Participants at the workshop.)