Sabarmati for120 km stretch is dead, releasing industrial effluents, sewage in Arabian sea

Counterview Desk
Several civil society organisations led by Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), Vadodara, in close coordination with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board have released reports'on joint investigations by pollution levels in the prime water source of Ahmedabad District, Sabarmati river, finding their condition disastrous.
The reports note that Sabarmati river in the Ahmedabad City stretch, beyond the much- publicised riverfront, is dry, though within the riverfront project stretch it is brimming with stagnant water. In the last 120 kilometres, before meeting the Arabian Sea, "it is dead and comprises of just industrial effluent and sewage", it states, providing figures to leave IRS point.

A PSS note based on the investigation:

On March 12, 2019, regional officers Tushar Shah and Nehalben Ajmera of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), social activist Mudita Vidrohi of Ahmedabad, Gujarat High Court lawyer Subodh Parmar conducted a joint investigation.
This was conducted in the context of implementation of the order, dated February 22, 2017 of the Supreme Court in the Writ Petition (Civil) No 375 of 2012 (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anr V/s Union of India & Ors) about the status of industrial effluent and sewerage discharge into the Sabarmati River stretch of Ahmedabad district.
The investigation report is shocking and reveals disastrous condition of Sabarmati river in and around Ahmedabad district and about 120 kilometres downstream.
Sabarmati river no longer has any fresh water when it enters the city of Ahmedabad. The Sabarmati Riverfront has merely become a pool of polluted stagnant water while the river, downstream of the riverfront, has been reduced to a channel carrying effluents from industries from Naroda, Odhav Vatva, Narol and sewerage from Ahmedabad city.

The drought-like condition of the Sabarmati river intensified by the riverfront development has resulted in poor groundwater recharge and increased dependency on the already ailing Narmada river. The investigation reports speak for themselves.
The investigation raises fundamental questions against both, the polluting industries that discharge their untreated effluents into the Sabarmati river, and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation that discharges their poorly treated, untreated sewerage into the Sabarmati River. GPCB's top cadre officials have failed in their duties and responsibilities to protect the Sabarmati river’s water quality, in spite of the Supreme Court order dated February 22, 2017, directing strict compliance of effluent treatment standards, continuous monitoring and closure of defaulting industries, and orders dated August 3, 2018 and February 19, 2019 of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Principal Bench, Delhi, in Original Application No.593 of 2017, (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anr V/s Union of India & Ors) for implementation of the Supreme Court order.
The alarmingly critical and dangerous levels of pollution, far exceeding permissible levels, as recorded in the investigation reports, are summarised below:

The water in Sabarmati Riverfront has 4.66 mg/l DO, 98 mg/l COD, 28 mg/l BOD, 96 mg/l sulphate, 153 mg/l Chloride, and 668 mg/l TDS.
The first outfall of STP of Ahmedabad after Vasna Barrage (after Sabarmati Riverfront) 160 MLD has 337 mg/l COD, 139 mg/l BOD, 108 mg/l sulphate, 186 mg/l chloride, and 732 mg/l TDS.
The second outfall industrial effluent of Ahmedabad after Vasna Barrage – storm water drain from Dani Limda (after Sabarmati Riverfront) has 1301 mg/l COD, 536 mg/l BOD, 462 mg/l sulphate, 933 mg/l, chloride, and 3135 mg/l TDS.
The third outfall of STP of Ahmedabad after Vasna Barrage (after Sabarmati Riverfront) 800 MLD has 587 mg/l COD, and 218 mg/l BOD.
The fourth outfall of industrial effluent from Naroda, Odhav and Vatva industrial Estates (mega pipeline) after Vasna Barrage (after Sabarmati Riverfront) 40 MLD has 1052 mg/l COD, 210 mg/l BOD, 863 mg/l sulphate, 4025 mg/l chloride, and mg/l 9813 TDS.
The fifth outfall of industrial effluent of Narol after Vasna Barrage (after Sabarmati Riverfront) 100 MLD has 1126 mg/l COD, 427 mg/l BOD, 743 mg/l sulphate, 1600 mg/l chloride, and 5290 mg/l TDS
The Sabarmati River 100 mtrs. after STPs and Industrial Effluent Outfall has BDL (Beyond Detection Limit) DO, 1009 mg/l COD, 447 mg/l BOD, 612 mg/l Sulphate, 1665 mg/l Chloride, and 4368 mg/l TDS.
Miroli village pumping station 21 kms. downstream of Vasna Barrage BDL (Beyond Detection Limit) DO, 151 mg/l COD, 33 mg/l BOD, 188 mg/l Sulphate, 491 mg/l, chloride, and 1466 mg/l TDS.

The pathetic and dismal condition of the Sabarmati river is a cause of grave concern for the health of the people of the Ahmedabad city and the villages around the river downstream of riverfront who rely on the river water for their daily use and livelihood.
Some of the major direct and indirect effects of the high levels of pollution on the people and environment includes contamination of ground water, food contamination, associated health hazards, loss of natural river habitat, depletion of ground water levels due to lack of water recharge, loss of flora and fauna, etc.
Urgent action is necessitated in light of these findings to rejuvenate and restore the Sabarmati River and its water quality, which calls for the strict implementation of the Supreme Court Order by the concerned authorities.
We demand that:

GPCB immediately issue closure notices to all the defaulting industries located in Ahmedabad industrial clusters, in implementation of the Supreme Court Order dated Frbruary 22, 2017.
GPCB immediately issue closer notices to all the defaulting CETPs of the Ahmedabad industrial cluster, in implementation of the Supreme Court Order dated Frbruary 22, 2017.
GPCB immediately issue notices to the Municipal Commissioner of Ahmedabad to ensure compliance by all STPs in the area.
GPCB should file criminal cases against the all owners/directors of the defaulting polluting industries, the officers of the CETPs, and the Municipal Commissioner of Ahmedabad.
The GPCB investigate and prepare further detailed reports about the ground water contamination as well as contamination of the food grains, vegetables, and fodder
Ensure interim exemplary monetary compensation along with medical services to the farmers and villagers who have suffered from the groundwater pollution.
Immediately pay interim compensation per season per acre to the farmers who are forced to use contaminated Sabarmati River water and groundwater for irrigation of agricultural land and hence are facing several severe problems.
Appoint a competent interdisciplinary committee, of officials and field experts, to assess the ongoing and past damages to quantify the real compensation payable to the farmers for the damage done.
Implement the order, dated February 22, 2017, of the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No 375 of 2012 (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anr V/s Union of India & Ors) and NGT, Principal Bench, Delhi Order, dated August 3, 2018 and February 19, 2019, in the Original Application No. 593 of 2017, (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anr V/s Union of India & Ors) in letter and spirit.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

The architect of Congolese liberation: The life and legacy of Patrice Lumumba

By Harsh Thakor* Patrice Émery Lumumba remains a central figure in the history of African decolonization, serving as the first Prime Minister of the independent Republic of the Congo. Born on July 2, 1925, Lumumba emerged as a radical anti-colonial leader who sought to unify a nation fractured by decades of Belgian rule. His tenure, however, lasted less than seven months before his dismissal and subsequent assassination on January 17, 1961.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog