Explained: Kali Bein, the holy rivulet from which Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann drank water and ‘took ill’

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was admitted to Delhi’s Apollo hospital, two days after he drank water from Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi. He was reportedly diagnosed with a stomach infection and has now been discharged.

After Mann took ill with a severe stomach ache at his official residence in Chandigarh on Tuesday night, he was airlifted to the Delhi hospital, according to sources. While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has said that Mann was hospitalised for a routine check-up, a video of him drinking water from Kali Bein (black rivulet) triggered speculation that the CM feel sick because of it. In the video tweeted by Mann’s party last Sunday, he is seen scooping up a glass of water from the rivulet and gulping it down as his supporters cheered him.

ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੀ ਚਰਨ ਛੋਹ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਧਰਤੀ ਸੁਲਤਾਨਪੁਰ ਲੋਧੀ ਵਿਖੇ ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਵੇਈਂ ਦਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਪੀਂਦੇ ਹੋਏ CM @BhagwantMann ਜੀ

ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਵੇਈਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਾਫ਼ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਬੀੜਾ ਰਾਜ ਸਭਾ ਮੈਂਬਰ ਸੰਤ ਸੀਚੇਵਾਲ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਚੁੱਕਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਹੈ pic.twitter.com/4LnU0U66wQ

— AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab) July 17, 2022

Ironically, the Punjab CM was invited to Sultanpur Lodhi to participate in the 22nd anniversary of the cleaning of Kali Bein by renowned environmentalist and Rajya Sabha MP Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal. Mann drank the water, which is polluted with sewage waste from neighbouring towns and villages, without hesitation, reports NDTV.

Also read: Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal's decade-long effort to clean up a river

What is the Kali Bein?

The rivulet which stretches across 165 kilometres runs through four districts in Punjab and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej at Kapurthala. There are around 80 villages and six towns along its banks and wastewater from here flows into the rivulet.

Kali Bein means black stream and it got its name because of the black minerals in its water. Bein is the Punjab world for a stream, which is derived from the Sanskrit word veni.

However, a report in The Indian Express says that the waste turned the waters of the rivulet black and hence it is called Kali Bein.

Why is the rivulet considered holy?

According to Sikh mythology, Kali Bein is where Guru Nanak gained enlightenment. While he was staying with his sister Bebe Nanki in Sultanpur Lodhi, he would bathe in the water body. One day, he is said to have disappeared after taking a dip in the rivulet only to appear three days later. He then proclaimed the “Mool Mantra”, which means essential teaching.

The opening section of the Guru Granth Sahib has the “Mool Mantra”. It starts as follows: Ik Onkar, Sat Na Naam… (There is only one God, Truth is his name…).

Why is the cleaning of Kali Bein celebrated?

The water of Kali Bein was polluted with all the sewage and industrial waste flowing into it. Grass and dense weed grew around it.

In the year 2000, environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, a former Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) member started cleaning Kali Bein with the help of a few followers. He is now AAP’s Rajya Sabha member and is popularly known as “eco baba” in the country.

With no help from the government, Seechwal began the “kar sewa” (voluntary work) of cleaning the rivulet, 22 years ago, when part of it was dried up and covered with water hyacinth. Weeds were removed and the water was treated; Kali Bein was revived with the help of citizens by spreading awareness.

The cleaning of Kali Bein was among the first instances of a people’s movement in India, where a water body was revived and hence it is celebrated every year.

The project became an inspiration for the country and it was recognised by then President APJ Abdul Kalam who visited the site in 2006. He praised the rejuvenation project time and again at several national and international forums and pushed for replication of the model in India, reports The Times of India. It also became an example of using religious devotion for an environmental cause.

In 2008, when TIME magazine came out with their “Heroes of the Environment” section, Seechewal name was on the list.

What did the Punjab government do?

After the cleaning project started gaining attention, the Congress government in Punjab said it would ensure that the discharge of untreated water into Kali Bein would stop. Seventy-three villages, which released waste into the rivulet, were identified to build a large pond to collect sewer water. It would be processed in a water treatment plant and then used for irrigation, according to a report by The Indian Express.

Has the project been emulated?

The Kali Bein project was cited as a model when the National Mission for Clean Ganga was launched. In 2015, then water resources minister Uma Bharti visited the rivulet and said it was a Guru Asthaan. She started a project where village panchayats were encouraged to visit the site and the Seechewal village to learn about handling wastewater without polluting rivers.

Around 750 village panchayats from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal have visited the rivulet over the years, Gurwinder Singh, who has also been involved in the Kali Bein cleaning, told ToI in 2020.

The Delhi government had said that it would adopt the model for cleaning the Yamuna.

What’s the status of Kali Bein?

Under the initiative undertaken by the Punjab government, work for 18 villages was completed by 2007. However, the project lost its momentum. Villagers are back to their old habits with at least 30 villages discharging wastewater into the river.

The water has once again become polluted and every year several fish die in the Kali Bein because of the lack of oxygen. Aquatic life has been affected for six years now because of toxins and sewage waste dumped into the water.

Seechewal blamed the carelessness of the canal department, saying not enough water was being released into the rivulet. “The 22 years of kar sewa has rejuvenated the Kali Bein but the release of toxic waste hasn’t been checked all this while,” he told Tribune India earlier this month.

In several villages, the treatment plant is not working. According to sewerage board officials, the government does not have enough funds to spare for the repairs, reports The Indian Express.

What is the AAP saying?

AAP leaders have denied Mann had any infection and said he went to the hospital for a routine checkup and was later discharged.

AAP’s Punjab unit has said that the CM had taken up the task of cleaning the holy place. The government announced the launch of a campaign to clean rivers and drains across the state. “Bhagwant Mann also drank water from the Bein and said that he was blessed to have got this opportunity,” AAP Punjab said in a tweet.

Praising the efforts of Seechewal for cleaning Kali Bein, the chief minister said that such efforts need to be replicated at a mass level to carry forward the legacy of great gurus.

With inputs from agencies

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