River Sirsa Under PPCB Scanner as Trash & Pollutants Reach River Satluj

September

2026

A huge quantity of trash and pollutants accumulated at the Ropar Headworks on the river Satluj was released downstream, triggering criticism from local residents, political leaders, and raising concerns over pollution from Himachal Pradesh (HP) entering Panjab’s water system. Aam Aadmi Party Member of Legislative Assembly, Dinesh Chadha has registered a First Information Report in Rupnagar police station on 16 Aug alleging that pollution entering the river Sirsa from the Baddi-Nalagarh industrial area in HP was eventually reaching the river Satluj. The developments have raised questions about monitoring industrial pollution and its subsequent movement into the state’s river and canal network. On 25 Aug, Chadha, along with officials from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the investigating officer, visited several areas in HP and Himachal-Haryana borders from where waste and pollutants are allegedly flowing into the river Sirsa. The team found municipal garbage and toxic leachate overflowing into the river Sirsa in Solan; pharmaceutical and chemical units in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh cluster discharging untreated waste; scrap dealers dumping multilayered plastic, discarded medicines, and pharmaceutical packaging into the riverbed along river Balad near Panjab’s borders; and large heaps of industrial waste being pushed into Marranwali Khad (rivulet) in Haryana. PPCB has sought urgent action from HP and Haryana over large-scale dumping of industrial effluent, pharmaceutical waste, and municipal solid waste into tributaries feeding Satluj. A 2024 study also reported pharmaceutical compounds in stretches of the river downstream of the Baddi industrial belt, including high antibiotic concentrations and chemical waste from Red-category factories. The river carries a heavy pollution burden by the time it reaches Ghanauli, Rupnagar district. The water quality data presented by PPCB at the North Zone Council meeting in Shimla, HP in June 2026 revealed that in March 2026, the total coliform in the river at Ghanauli touched 60,000 (most probable numbers) MPN/100 ml, while faecal coliform reached 17,000 MPN/100 ml and it violated the prescribed Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) standards. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) criteria, water meant for outdoor bathing should have a BOD of not more than 3 mg/L, dissolved oxygen of at least 5 mg/L and total coliform of not more than 500 MPN/100 ml. PPCB officials stated that river Sirsa has consequently figured among highly polluted river stretches in earlier CPCB assessments as well (earlier coverage).