The agricultural sector has a sorry record of overusing chemical fertilisers, insecticides, weedicides, etc., which have been contaminating the food chain, besides causing pollution. On the other hand, natural drains became convenient and extremely harmful dumping grounds for industrial waste. The issue was highlighted repeatedly in the media and some steps have been taken, but more needs to be done. There is a tremendous shortage of sewage plants, as a result of which riparian cities have turned downstream rivers into sewers. Of the plants that have been set up, only a few are functional.

The government has taken a politically expedient road rather than take measures that would allow it to get the requisite funds from the Centre. It should have followed the required norms, imposed water and sewer charges for all sections of society, and other such measures. There is no doubt that the Punjab Pollution Control Board recently took a number of measures that cut into the pollution, especially from electroplating units, and even hospitals. However, the removal of a proactive head of the body sent out a wrong signal. The government did act firmly against farmers by not allowing paddy to be sowed before a specified time, thus preserving the much-depleted groundwater, but it has not been able to prevent them from burning the paddy stumps, which causes much air pollution. There were far more misses than hits on the pollution front in Punjab. Surely, the state deserves much more than a piecemeal approach towards such a serious problem.