Musariaz at 01:36, 31 July 2025

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{{short description|Indian rivulet}}
[[File:Present-20.jpg|thumb|Kali Bein river]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
'''Kali Bein''' is a [[rivulet]] in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[India]] that flows into the confluence of the rivers [[Beas River|Beas]] and [[Satluj]] at [[Hari ke Pattan|Harike]]. [[Guru Nanak]] attained enlightenment after taking a bath in the Kali Bein, and despite its religious history in Sikhism, the rivulet is not considered holy by the Sikhs in Punjab, as no bodies of water are considered holy in [[Sikhism]] aside from the Sikh Sarovars (pools of water within gurdwaras) of [[Gurdwara]]s (Sikh Temples).<ref>{{cite book |title=Punjab : building the land of the five rivers |date=March 2017 |location=Mumbai, India |isbn=978-9383243167 |last1=Lambah |first1=Abha Narain }}</ref> In the wake of the [[Green Revolution in India|Green Revolution]] and the rise of chemical pesticides, 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.

== Etymology ==
Kali Bein literally means the ''Black Stream''.<ref name="TwoCircles.net">{{cite news|title=Sultanpur Lodhi: the site where Guru Nanak attained enlightenment|url=http://twocircles.net/2014dec20/1419085679.html#.VJvH9F4AAA|accessdate=25 December 2014 |publisher=TwoCircles.net|date=20 December 2014}}</ref> It is called Kali ('black') due to the black colour reflected by the minerals in its waters.<ref name="Menon2011">{{cite book|author=Sreelata Menon|title=Guru Nanak: The Enlightened Master |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AVnckdqbu8C&pg=PA4|year=2011|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-333190-2|pages=4}}</ref> The [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] word 'bein' derives from the [[Sanskrit]] 'veni' meaning a stream or a water body. Beins are a feature of the plains and are marked by their zigzagging course.<ref name="University of Manitoba">{{cite book|last1=Nigah|first1=Manpreet|title=An Assessment of Seechewal Initiative in the State of Punjab, India: An example of Community-based Conservation?|date=September 2007|publisher=University of Manitoba|location=Winnipeg|page=64|url=https://umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/theses/Masters%20Thesis%20Nigah%202008.pdf|accessdate=25 December 2014|archive-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410190512/http://umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/theses/Masters%20Thesis%20Nigah%202008.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Course ==
[[File:Present15.jpg|thumb|right|280px| Kali Bein at present]]The Kali Bein rises from a spring in the Dhanoa village of Dasuya tehsil [[Hoshiarpur district]] of Punjab, India. Odhra rivulet, and Mukerian Hydel Channel are the main source of water for Kali Bein. After flowing for 160 km, it merges at the confluence of the Beas and the Satluj at [[Hari ke Pattan|Harike Pattan]].<ref name="Quiet flows the Kali Bein, again">{{cite news|title=Quiet flows the Kali Bein, again|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/quiet-flows-the-kali-bein-again/article3151868.ece|accessdate=25 December 2014|work=The Hindu|date=24 April 2006}}</ref> The Kali Bein is also called the Western Bein in Hoshiarpur and its course lies parallel to the Beas in the Hoshiarpur and [[Kapurthala district|Kapurthala]] districts. The Kali Bein is also thought to be the abandoned [[Stream bed|riverbed]] of the Beas and its depth varies from 1.5 to 3 metres.<ref name="SinghKaur2005">{{cite book|author1=Mandeep Singh|author2=Harvinder Kaur|title=Punjab Today|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__VU4vm33ykC&pg=PA60|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7629-702-8|pages=60}}</ref> The Bein's spring was brick lined during the [[Emperor Akbar|Emperor Akbar's]] reign.<ref name="Quiet flows the Kali Bein, again"/> The Chhoti Bein is a [[tributary]] of the Kali Bein.<ref>{{cite news|title=District collector joins Seechewal in cleaning Chhoti Bein|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/District-collector-joins-Seechewal-in-cleaning-Chhoti-Bein/articleshow/39446129.cms|accessdate=25 December 2014|publisher=Times of India|date=2 August 2014}}</ref> The Kali Bein flows through the districts of Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and [[Jalandhar district|Jalandhar]] and there are several towns on its banks including [[Kapurthala]] and [[Sultanpur Lodhi]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Efforts to check pollution of Kali Bein|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/efforts-to-check-pollution-of-kali-bein/9512.html|accessdate=25 December 2014|work=The Tribune|date=19 November 2014|archive-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226140728/http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/efforts-to-check-pollution-of-kali-bein/9512.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Mukerian Hydel Channel at Terkiana is a major waterworks on the Bein that controls the flow of water downstream.<ref name="The Indian Express">{{cite news|title=Prayers dry up on lips as Kali Bein fails to rise at Sultanpur Lodhi|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/prayers-dry-up-on-lips-as-kali-bein-fails-to-rise-at-sultanpur-lodhi/|accessdate=25 December 2014|publisher=The Indian Express|date=15 April 2011}}</ref> The Kali Bein has a [[catchment area]] covering 945 square kilometers.<ref name="University of Manitoba"/>

== Sikhism ==
[[File:Janamsakhi series painting depicting the search-and-rescue mission launched to recover Guru Nanak from the Kali Bein.jpg|thumb|''[[Janamsakhis|Janamsakhi]]'' series painting depicting the search-and-rescue mission launched to recover Guru Nanak from the Kali Bein, circa late 18th or early 19th-century.]]
Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of [[Sikhism]], is believed to have attained enlightenment after taking a dip in the Kali Bein.<ref name="The Indian Express"/> Guru Nanak Dev Ji is said to have disappeared while bathing in the Bein only to reappear three days later. Guru Nanak Dev Ji then proclaimed that "There is no Hindu and there is no Musalman. There is only one God and all are equal before Him".<ref name="Menon2011 b">{{cite book|author=Sreelata Menon|title=Guru Nanak: The Enlightened Master|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AVnckdqbu8C&pg=PA4|year=2011|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-333190-2|pages=3}}</ref> The [[Mool Mantra|moolmantra]] of Sikhism, [[Ik Onkar]], originated from this experience.<ref>{{cite news|title=The River Has Spoken|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/The-River-Has-Spoken/286502|accessdate=25 December 2014|publisher=Outlook|date=8 July 2013}}</ref> The [[Gurdwara Sri Ber Sahib]], where Guru Nanak Dev Ji used to meditate under a ber tree, is located on the Kali Bein's banks in Sultanpur Lodhi.<ref name="TwoCircles.net"/>

== Ecological concerns ==
[[File:Past 1.jpg|thumb|Photograph of a polluted Kali Bein producing white foam]]
Kali Bein plays a key role in recharging the [[water table]] and in flood management in its watershed. It is also a key source of irrigation for the agricultural fields there.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kali Bein|url=http://ecoheritage.cpreec.org/Viewcontall.php?$mFJyBfK$MUznQBkxyW1m|publisher=CPR Environmental Education Centre|accessdate=25 December 2014|archive-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226141631/http://ecoheritage.cpreec.org/Viewcontall.php?$mFJyBfK$MUznQBkxyW1m|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Kanjli Wetland]], a [[Ramsar site]] (a wetland site designated of international importance under the [[Ramsar Convention]]), is supported by the Kali Bein. As a result of the Green Revolution, the use of industrial and [[agrochemical|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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Heroes of the Environment 2008: Balbir Singh Seechewal|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1841778_1841781_1841808,00.html|access-date=25 December 2014|publisher=Time|date=24 September 2008}}</ref>

== Clean up ==
[[File:Cleaning the kali.jpg|thumb|Cleaning of the Kali Bein]]
The clean up of the Kali Bein was led by Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal who organised a ''kar sewa'' and roped in the [[Government of Punjab, India|Government of Punjab]]. Seechewal's efforts involved the clearing of [[water hyacinth]] and other weeds from the Bein, the building of bathing ghats and the construction of a road along the Bein.<ref name="Mahapragya2012">{{cite book|author=A. P. J. Abdul Kalam/ Acharya Mahapragya|title=The Family and The Nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIjdviDe2m4C&pg=PT11|date=21 July 2012|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|isbn=978-93-5029-260-0|pages=11–}}</ref> The kar sewa began in 2000 and till 2003 focused on cleaning up the Kali Bein near Sultanpur Lodhi after which the focus shifted to cleaning up the Bein between Dhanoa and the [[Kanjli Wetland|Kanjli wetland]]. Seechewal often referred to the [[Guru Granth Sahib]] and its verses exhorting the preservation of natural resources in his appeals for cleaning the Bein.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nigah|first1=Manpreet|title=An Assessment of Seechewal Initiative in the State of Punjab, India: An example of Community-based Conservation?|date=September 2007|publisher=University of Manitoba|location=Winnipeg|page=71|url=https://umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/theses/Masters%20Thesis%20Nigah%202008.pdf|accessdate=25 December 2014|archive-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410190512/http://umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/theses/Masters%20Thesis%20Nigah%202008.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> 3000 volunteers a day worked under Seechewal for three and a half years to accomplish the revival of the Bein. It directly led to a rise in the water table and the reusability of hand pumps that had remained dry for several decades.<ref name="Bharati2006">{{cite book|author=Radha Kant Bharati|title=Interlinking of Indian Rivers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcyNUNeHQsYC&pg=PA35|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Lotus Press|isbn=978-81-8382-041-7|pages=35–}}</ref> Further, these efforts have contributed to eliminating the problem of water logging in the Kali Bein's upstream areas and improved the availability of water in its downstream areas resulting in improved irrigation and better crops.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nigah|first1=Manpreet|title=An Assessment of Seechewal Initiative in the State of Punjab, India: An example of Community-based Conservation?|date=September 2007|publisher=University of Manitoba|location=Winnipeg|page=79|url=https://umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/theses/Masters%20Thesis%20Nigah%202008.pdf|accessdate=25 December 2014|archive-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410190512/http://umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/theses/Masters%20Thesis%20Nigah%202008.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Despite Seechewal's success, the Kali Bein has continued to suffer in recent years. Inadequate release of water from Mukerian Hydel Channel, the flow back of polluted water from Harike and the failure of sewage treatment plants led to the mass death of fishes in the Kali Bein in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lakhs of fish die in Kali Bein|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Lakhs-of-fish-die-in-Kali-Bein/articleshow/19656773.cms|accessdate=25 December 2014|work=The Times of India|date=21 April 2013}}</ref>

On 17 July 2022, while on a visit to mark the 22nd anniversary of the river's cleaning, Punjab Chief Minister [[Bhagwant Mann]] consumed a glass of water directly from the river in Sultanpur Lodhi. Two days later he was admitted to a hospital, reportedly, suffering from a stomach infection. He was discharged a day later.<ref>{{cite news|title=Days after drinking water from Kali Bein, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in hospital|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-news-bhagwant-mann-hospital-admitted-stomach-ache-delhi-apollo-hospital-8042452/|accessdate=21 July 2022|work=The Indian Express |date=21 July 2022}}</ref> While it was speculated that his visit to the hospital was caused by a stomach infection from drinking polluted water, official sources denied this and claimed it was a routine health check-up.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bhagwant Mann Discharged From Delhi Hospital After A Day|url=https://ndtv.com/india-news/bhagwant-mann-in-delhi-hospital-days-after-drinking-polluted-water-3179396|accessdate=21 July 2022|work=NDTV |date=21 July 2022}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord missing|Punjab (India)}}

[[Category:Rivers of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Indus River]]

Kali Bein - Revision history

Musariaz at 01:36, 31 July 2025