Context: Kali Bein is a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi and is significant for the Sikh religion. However, it recently got in news when Punjab Chief Minister got hospitalized after consuming a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein.

About River Kali Bein

Origin

• The 165-km rivulet starts from Hoshiarpur, runs across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala.

Features

• Odhra rivulet, and Mukerian Hydel Channel are the main source of water for Kali Bein.

• The Chhoti-Bein is a tributary of the Kali Bein.

• The Kanjli Wetland, a Ramsar site (a wetland site designated of international importance under the Ramsar Convention), is supported by the Kali Bein.

Why it is important to conserve?

• Kali Bein plays a key role in recharging the water tableand in flood management in its watershed.

• It is also a key source of irrigation for the agricultural fields there.

• The Kanjli Wetland, a Ramsar site is supported by the Kali Bein.

• The use of industrial and agricultural chemicals and the exploitation of groundwater led to the drying up of the Kali Bein along parts of its course and the contamination of groundwater leading to diseases and the drying up of farmlands.

Pollution

• Wastewater from cities and towns as well as industrial waste used to flow into the rivulet via a drain, turning its waters black, hence the name Kali Bein (black rivulet).

• In the wake of the Green Revolution, the Kali Bein became progressively polluted until it was cleaned and rejuvenated in a mass action led by Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal in the 2000s.

• At one stage, the project had become a role model for river cleaning missions.

• The ‘Kali Bein Model’ was cited as the blueprint for the National Mission for Clean Ganga.

• Uma Bharti, then Union Minister for Water Resources, River Project and Ganga Rejuvenation, visited the Kali Bein in 2015, and called it a Guru Sthan for the Ganga project.

Significance for Sikhs

• The first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment

• When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi with his sister BebeNanki, he would bathe in the Kali Bein.

• He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day. This marks the beginnings of Sikhism and the start of Nanak’s teachings.

• The first thing he recited was the “Mool Mantra” of the Sikh religion (Ik Onkar).

• Gurudwara Ber Sahib, the principal shrine at Sultanpur, is situated on the bank of the rivulet Kali Bein.

• It is built by the side of an old ber tree which is believed to be the one under which Guru Nanak would sit in meditation.