The samples, says a GPCB report, were taken in October and December 2018 following a complaint the official watchdog body’s Vadodara office received from the top environmental voluntary organization, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), and Farmers’ Action Group (FAG), representing farmers of the region.
Following the complaint, says the report, officials of GPCB regional
office and vigilance office, Vadodara, swung into action with Rohit
Prajapati of PSS and Ghanshyambhai Patel and Kirit Amin of FAG, visiting
villages in Padra taluka to examine “21 borewells/abstraction wells”
after taking their “water samples”.
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| Borewell samples within the premises on an industrial unit |
The GPCB officials who participated in the sample-taking exercise – RP
Rana, MV Soni, and MU Patel, all of them environmental engineers – found
that, in nine borewells, whose samples were collected from within the
premises of an industrial unit in Umaraya village of Padra taluka, the
colour of the water was “reddish tinge, reddish, reddish brown or
brownish.”
In the 12 other borewell water samples, collected from villages Luna and
Umayara in the areas surrounding several other industrial units, the
engineers found several variations, ranging from “dark yellow” and
“reddish” to “yellowish”. Only five of the 21 samples, including three
meant for drinking water, one for panchayat, and one for an industrial
unit, were discharging “colourless” water.
The report says, in the borewell of the farm of Geetaben Patel in
village Luna, the water, being used for irrigation for the last six
years, was “shining yellow”; in the borewell of Kapilaben Ramanbhai
Patel’s farm also in Luna village, the colour of the water – being used
by cattle for drinking and irrigation – was “reddish” to “dark yellow”,
though earlier it was “light red”.
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| Other borewells in farmlands, an industrial unit discharging polluted water |
Further, in the borewell of the farm of Ghanshyambhai Ramanbhai Patel,
again in Luna village, meant for agriculture and cattle drinking, the
colour was found to be “yellowish”. The borewell of the farm of
Gansyambhai Chandubhai Patel, also of Luna village, discharged “light
yellow water”, and was being used for agriculture for the last seven
years. Then, the borewell of the farm of Rameshbhai Somabhai Padhiyar of
Umraya village was also discharging reddish water or pale yellow water
for irrigation for the “last 13 years.”
The situation was found to be the same in the water coming out of the borewell of the premises of an enterprise in village Luna, where the water had “reddish tinge”, and the borewell of the farm of Bhadreshbhai Bachubhai Sindha of Umraya village, which discharged reddish water, meant for “agriculture and cattle drinking”.
The situation was found to be the same in the water coming out of the borewell of the premises of an enterprise in village Luna, where the water had “reddish tinge”, and the borewell of the farm of Bhadreshbhai Bachubhai Sindha of Umraya village, which discharged reddish water, meant for “agriculture and cattle drinking”.
The report, obtained by PSS on March 11, 2019 following a Right to
Information (RTI) plea, suggests that the water in the borewells in
Padra villages had “dangerously very high" COD (chemical oxygen demand),
said Prajapati, adding, the evidences suggest that groundwater
pollution had crossed “even the limit of industrial effluent discharge
norms.”
Calculates the environmentalist, COD was found to be 2,225 mg/l on
October 16, 018) and 2,722 mg/l on December 26, 2018) in village Luna;
TDS (total dissolved solids) was found to be 10,172 mg/l on October 16,
2018, and 11,188 mg/l on December 26, 2018); and BOD (biological oxygen
demand) was 198 mg/l on October 16, 2018 and 72 mg/l December 26, 2018.
In his strongly-worded letter to Government of India and Gujarat government officials, warning that if they do not act, it would be construed as “contempt of court of the Supreme Court order, dated February 22, 2017”, in PSS activists’ Writ Petition (Civil) 375 of 2012, and “may result in suitable further action”, Prajapati says, “COD of groundwater has crossed the acceptable or permitted limits of the industrial effluent discharge, which is 250 mg/l COD” -- a “disastrous situation”.
In his strongly-worded letter to Government of India and Gujarat government officials, warning that if they do not act, it would be construed as “contempt of court of the Supreme Court order, dated February 22, 2017”, in PSS activists’ Writ Petition (Civil) 375 of 2012, and “may result in suitable further action”, Prajapati says, “COD of groundwater has crossed the acceptable or permitted limits of the industrial effluent discharge, which is 250 mg/l COD” -- a “disastrous situation”.
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