What is in news : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Punjab and Rajasthan governments to submit quarterly compliance reports to Jal Shakti ministry about remedial action being taken to curb the inflow of effluent discharge into the Satluj and Beas.

Sources of Pollution :

• Buddha Nallah (Tributary) is a major source of pollution in the river Sutlej
• Untreated sewage waste from Ludhiana city sewage treatment plants is polluting Buddha Nallah
• Another seasonal rivulet, Chitti Bein and its sub-drain, Kala Sanghian drain, in the Jalandhar district are equally responsible for high pollution in the Sutlej river. The untreated discharge from Jalandhar’s leather goods industry is one of the major reasons behind Chitti Bein’s pollution.

Impact on Indira Gandhi Canal:

• The Indira Gandhi Canal is the longest canal in the country.
• It starts from Harike Barrage, a few kilometres below the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab, flows through Ludhiana and terminates in the Thar Desert in northwest Rajasthan.
• The canal is a source of drinking and irrigation in the north and western Rajasthan.
• It provides water to 1.75 crore people living in 7,500 villages across eight districts in the state.

Sutlej River

• The ancient name of Sutlej River is Zaradros (Ancient Greek) Shutudri or Shatadru (Sanskrit).
• It is the longest of the five tributaries of the Indus River that give the Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) its name.
• Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Satluj are main tributaries of Indus.
• It rises on the north slope of the Himalayas in Lake La’nga in southwestern Tibet.
• Flowing northwestward and then west-southwestward through Himalayan gorges, it enters and crosses Himachal Pradesh before beginning its flow through the Punjab plain near Nangal.
• Continuing southwestward in a broad channel, it receives the Beas River (and forms 65 miles (105 km) of the India-Pakistan border before entering Pakistan and flowing another 220 miles (350 km) to join the Chenab River west of Bahawalpur.
• Sutlej River meets the Beas River in Harike in the Ferozpur district before entering Pakistan.