BY Kamal Bhargava with inputs from Sachin Johri

Forty years back, what was a blessing for people across 1200 villages, has now turned into a curse. ‘Kali Nadi’ (black river), which starts from the Antwara, a district in Muzaffarnagar and ends at Kannauj, is now known as a cause of cancer, skin disease, heart failure, infertility and many such more deadly medical conditions.

Sometime in the year 1960, a tributary of the Ganga was the only sources for day-to-day work. The 498 km long ‘Kali Nadi’ which cross through Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Hapur, Khurja, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Farrukhabad, Kasganj, till Kannauj, was the main source of water and used to cater to more than 1200 villages on both sides of the river.

But today, Kali Nadi is supposed to be one the most highly-polluted rivers of North India, according to an independent survey conducted by Raman Tyagi, of the NGO Neer Foundation that works exclusively to save the Kali Nadi. The first layer of the water bed is severely-affected, especially in and around a one kilometre radius of the river bed. Clean, pure water no longer remains; only sewage, industrial, chemical and slaughter house waste can be found in the river.

“The sad part is the water of Kali Nadi is not only taking lives in the form of cancer and other deadly diseases, but it is also finishing the future generations too. In our village eighty per cent of the household is affected as the biggest problem is infertility,” says Munnavar, Pithlokar village head, Meerut.

Dr. Sunil Jindal, senior infertility specialist, says, “Sperm count has gone down over a decade. There is DNA fragmentation of sperm and functionality is getting damaged. Because of pollution and toxicity there is killing of gametes thus leading to infertility. If the speed remains the same than by 2050 more than half of the population will be infertile.”

Adding to this, Dr. Umang Mithal, a senior surgical oncologist says that the number of patients from areas in and around the Kali Nadi is almost double as compared to other areas. “Usually, patients of these areas suffer from bladder and oral cancer. This includes patients having urinary, throat and mouth cancer. The main reason is polluted water. Boiling or using of any reverse osmosis (RO) systems cannot purify the water,” he says.

Even animals are not spared. “We have lost a sizeable number of cattle. These includes buffaloes, cow, bulls and goats, etc. In last eight to ten years, the death toll has reached 700,” says Munnavar.

Efforts for rejuvenation, though undertaken by the government, hasn’t improved the situation yet. Raman Tyagi says, “After running from post to pillar for our drive to save the Kali Nadi, it has been adopted by the Central Government under its Namami Ganga programme (It has an objective of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga). In 2016, the Modi government gave the approval of adopting Kali Nadi. 200 bigha of land, approximately 50 acres, has been provided by the government in Antwara for developing a lagoon, along with including a water table and rain water collection point. But the reality is only official adoption is there but no work has started yet. There is complete silence in this regard.”

Along with human and animal life being affected by the Kali Nadi, occupations like farming have facing severe crisis as well.

Ifkat, a resident of Nangla village, says “It (Kali Nadi) has made every one sick. The water is not worth drinking. All crops and farms have finished. If still we choose to use water of Kali Nadi, the entire lot of crops gets burnt out. Every year the production is only 35% to 40%, the rest is useless.” He adds, “We have lost all hope. All we need is remedy and solutions in times to come.”

Munnavar, the village head adds, “In our village there are more than 1000 houses with a population of around 18,000 to 20,000. There is no house where skin disease, asthma, cancer, heart condition is not prevalent. Even a foreign delegation who visited our village between March 23 to 25, 2018, last, have also certified that infertility is there due usage of water of Kali Nadi”. A US-based NGO, the Water Collective, had visited villages along the Kali Nadi. In their visit across eight villages, they found various instances of discoloured, impurities-filled water, and villagers suffering from chronic and fatal diseases.