Polluted villages around Gujarat's cultural capital have brownish red to pale yellow groundwater: CPCB report

Groundwater at an irrigation farm

By Rajiv Shah
A recent Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report has found that groundwater of villages near Vadodara, known as Gujarat’s cultural capital, is highly polluted due to “industrial activity”, mainly because of what it calls “unscientific disposal of hazardous waste water” into the effluent treatment channel.
The report, which is based on a study of samples taken in several villages near Vadodara, says that the colour of the groundwater all over varies from dark brownish-red to pale yellow, adding, the situation is particularly extremely alarming in groundwater locations around the dye intermediate industries.
Prepared in September 2016, the CPCB, which is a Government of India statutory body responsible for monitoring pollution, decided to carry out the monitoring job on receiving a complaint from the Farmers’ Action Group (FAG), a local people’s organization, about groundwater pollution in two talukas of Vadodara district, Padra and Jambusar.
The CPCB examined groundwater pollution around Luna and Dudhawada villages of Padra taluka, and Piludara village of Jambusar taluka. Carried out in two phases, its team collected in all 19 groundwater samples from borewells. Senior environmentalist Rohit Prajapati of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and a few farmer activists from FAG also accompanied the CPCB team for taking samples.
Providing details, the report says, during the first phase, the highest concentration of colour, up to 1,350 Hazen units, was reported inside the premises of chemical and textile dye industries, followed by areas surrounding the industries (1,200 Hazen units).
Finding high concentration of colour in all ten locations, ranging from orange red to yellow, the report says, COD and TDS monitored in ten borewell water samples has varied from 30 to 737 mg/l and 1,461 to 5,199 mg/l, respectively.

In the second phase, in which groundwater monitoring was carried out on nine locations next to the effluent channel, which takes treated waste water to be disposed of into the sea, found a very high concentration of groundwater pollution of up to a whopping 6,000 Hazen units – with groundwater becoming dark orange red in colour in the worst scenario. Its COD level was found to be 328 mg/l and TDS at 5,819 mg/l.
In fact, the report said, the physical appearance of groundwater samples in as many as eight of the nine locations in phase two was found to be ranging from dark brownish red to pale yellow. Only on one location, the groundwater was found to be of having lesser concentration of pollution, and was therefore being used for drinking and domestic purposes.
The report observes that the samples collected from areas near the effluent channel revealed that there was “significant increase” in concentration of pollutants as compared to the monitoring results of samples collected at upstream. It notes, it is evident from the monitoring results that there must be slug discharge of partially/untreated effluent into the channel from several of the industries.
The report concludes that, prima facie, it appears that there is high concentration of groundwater pollution in the area because of unscientific disposal of hazardous waste, insisting, the problem of groundwater contamination is growing in the region.
It believes, groundwater may be contaminated due to illegal activities by dye Intermediary units located in the area, pointing towards “strong resentment” among the farmers who depend on groundwater for irrigation.
Based on the study, the report recommends urgent need to carry out study of the extent of groundwater contamination, identification of sources and locations in areas of mixed waste streams from multiple industries by engaging agency/consultancy/laboratory of national repute across India.

Comments

India's GDP down by 50%, not 23%, job loss 200 million not 122 million: Top economist

By Our Representative One of India’s topmost economists has estimated that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decline was around 50%, and not 23%, as claimed by the Government of India’s top data body, National Statistical Organization (NSO). Prof Arun Kumar, who is Malcolm S Adiseshiah chair professor, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, said this was delivering a web policy speech, organised by the Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi.

JP advised RSS to give up Hindu Rashtra, disband itself: Ex-IAS officer tells Modi

Counterview Desk
Major MG Devasahayam IAS (Retd), chairman, People-First, in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Jayprakash Narain’s (JP’s) death anniversary (October 11) has wondered whether he remembers “a patriot called Jayaprakash Narayan”. Recalling what JP thought on issues such as communalism, freedom, democracy, Hindutva etc., Devasahayam says, Modi has been been doing “the very opposite of the principles and values for which JP lived and died.”

Buddhist shrines massively destroyed by Brahmanical rulers in "pre-Islamic" era: Historian DN Jha's survey

By Our Representative
Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book, "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

UP chief secretary, DGP have 'surrendered' to political diktat: 92 retired IAS, IPS officials

Counterview Desk
In an open letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, 92 retired IAS, IFS and IPS bureaucrats, commenting on “blatant violations of the rule law” following the Hathras incident, have blamed that the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police for abjectly failing to exercise control over a “highly compromised” administration the state.

Hathras reflects Manu's mindset dominates: 'Women are false, it's in their nature to seduce'

By Parijat Ghosh, Dibyendu Chaudhuri*
The woman died and then we woke up to protest. She was alive for two weeks after the heinous incident. Many of us even didn’t notice what had happened at Hathras, how she fought during the next 15 days. Those who noticed, many of them were not sure what actually had happened. So much so, we as a nation were more busy in finding out who among the Bollywood actresses were taking drugs, who smoked weed, who had ‘inappropriate’ or more than one relationship, what kind of private conversations they had in their chat boxes and what not!

Gujarat literati flutter: State Akademi autonomy curb a Sahitya Parishad poll issue?

By Dankesh Oza*
The 115-year-old Gujarati Sahitya Parishad is in election mode. More than 3,000 life members of the Parishad are set to elect its 52nd president and 40 plus central working committee (CWC) members, which in turn will elect its executive and two vice presidents, six secretaries and a treasurer for the coming three years (from 2021 to 2023).

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur*
Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Atrocities against Dalits: Why don't MPs, MLAs from the community ever speak up?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*
In Gujarat, a young Dalit activist lawyer Devji Maheshwari, belonging to the Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMSCEF) was killed in Surat, allegedly by a goon who was warning him against his Facebook posts not to speak up against Brahmanism. Facts have come to light suggesting there are other issues also which led to the murder, mostly related to land disputes, many a time ignored by activists.

Delhi riots: Even British didn't accuse Bhagat Singh of reading Lenin, Jack London

By Vikash Narain Rai*
After the #BlackLifeMatters movement seriously tested the credibility of police across America, the Houston police chief Art Acevado talked of ending “lawful but awful” policing. No comparison, but in India, a citizens’ committee comprising former top judges and bureaucrats is now set to inquire into the role of the state machinery and media in handling the February 2020 Delhi violence, which followed protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), “as the investigation by the Delhi Police has evoked extensive critical commentary in recent times.”

Search This Blog