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

Groundwater at an irrigation farm

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

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Search This Blog