Yellow-coloured water gushes out of the 61-metre deep tubewell at a Ghazibad-based dyeing factory

It is a crime. Numerous factories deliberately inject untreated effluents directly into the ground, contaminating underground aquifers. Samples of groundwater were collected from eight places in three states and tested for concentrations of some known pollutants. All samples had high levels of the heavy metal mercury, which caused the Minamata disaster in Japan in the 1950s. One sample had more than 268 times the mercury than is considered safe. Groundwater in the industrial areas of India is unfit even for agriculture.

In february 1999, a Delhi newspaper reported that a tubewell sunk to a depth of about 200 feet (61 metres) by Suruchi Dyeing Udyog, a factory south of the G T Road in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, was yielding yellow-coloured water. Arun Agarwal, the factory’s owner, was quoted in the report as saying: “Initially, we thought it was surface impurities that came up with the water. But then we found it was the groundwater itself. It is pure poison.” The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) found para-nitrophenol, an organic compound, in the water in a concentration of 0.54 milligrammes per litre (mg/l). The permissible limit of the compound is 0.001 mg/l. Obviously, some factory in the area that was pumping untreated effluent into the groundwater.
Earlier, in January 1994, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi, had undertaken the first major groundwater quality monitoring exercise. The report published in December 1995 identified 22 places in 16 states of India as ‘critical’ sites of groundwater pollution. cpcb found industrial effluents to be the primary reason for groundwater pollution.

Considering that 80 per cent of the country’s drinking water needs are met by groundwater, Down To Earth sent its reporters to some areas where groundwater contamination has been reported. They brought back samples from eight places in three states: Haryana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. The samples were analysed at the Facility for Ecological and Analytical Testing (FEAT) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. The results were shocking. There were traces of heavy metals like iron and zinc in all the samples, cadmium in five samples and lead in three. But all the samples had one striking similarity: the levels of mercury were dangerously high.

Mercury is implicated in a range of health problems, including Minamata disease (characterised by impairment of brain functions), neurological disorders, retardation of growth in children, abortion, disruption of the endocrine system (which controls hormone levels in the blood stream) and weakening of the immune system. “High levels of mercury in drinking water can severely impair the nervous system, causing neuropathy. Moreover, it affects lever and kidney functions,” says S K Wangnoo, senior consultant and endocrinologist at the Apollo hospital, New Delhi.

The concentration of mercury in the sample taken from a tubewell near an industrial area in Panipat was 0.2683 mg/l, more than 268 times the permissible limit of 0.001 milligrammes per litre (mg/l) set by the World Health Organisation for drinking water. The chemical oxygen demand (cod, which is the amount of oxygen required by chemicals in the water to oxidise
and stabilise themselves) of the water was 360 mg/l. The maximum permissible cod level even for industrial effluents is 250 mg/l. The groundwater is as bad or worse than untreated industrial effluents.

Wellwater from Lali village, about 15 km from Vatva in Gujarat, showed 0.211 mg/l of mercury, again more than 200 times the permissible limit. And the residents of the village drink this water besides using it for irrigation. The COD level of the sample taken from a borewell in Chiri village of Vapi, Gujarat was 263 mg/l, indicating the overbearing presence of chemicals. Among other sources, mercury can enter the environment from units dealing with smelting, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, chemicals and petrochemicals.

“Of all the commonly occurring metal pollutants, mercury is the most toxic,” writes Padma S Vankar of feat, Kanpur. “The indiscriminate discharge of mercury along with industrial pollutants... may result into significant build-up of the metal in the aquatic environment,” she points out. “No guideline exists for mercury in irrigation water. A nationwide approach to solve mercury pollution needs to be taken up. A balanced strategy which integrates end-of-pipe control technologies with material substitution and separation, design-for-environment, and fundamental changes in approach,” she notes. She suggests that more tests should be conducted on groundwater to find out the extent of pollution, especially with regard to cyanide, arsenic and banned amines.

In all the places visited by the Down To Earth reporters, residents of the surrounding areas were unaware of the danger in groundwater, though they could see that something was wrong. As for the government authorities, the pollution control boards are either unwilling to deal with the offenders or are simply ineffective at implementing the anti-pollution laws. Then there are the all-too-familiar complaints of connivance with rogue industry.

On December 10, 1996, the Supreme Court directed the Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) to empower the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the ministry of water resources to initiate penal action under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, against overexploitation of groundwater. This led to the creation of cgwa. But in the past three years, cgwa has invited a lot of criticism. It is quite clear from the Down To Earth case studies that pollution control authorities are not capable of dealing with the groundwater crisis.

The only solution is to involve the local people and civil society in checking further pollution of our groundwater as they are the most important stakeholders of the country’s natural resources and are the worst affected by pollution. This is all the more important in light of the fact that once polluted, cleaning up groundwater is next to impossible. It is a tough task for our bureaucratic establishment, which completely lacks transparency. The case studies are presented here with the hope that policymakers and the general public alike awaken to the crisis

A man shows the quality of water in a well in Patancheru

ITW Signode, another Patancheru-based company, was discharging toxic, strontium-laced effluents into a nearby drain. An NGRI study found high levels of strontium in the groundwater. “We located this industry and closed it,” says Chatterjee.” A study by the groundwater department of the state government confirms that the pollution level is very high and has endangered human lives, animals and agricultural activity.

The NGRI study says that most of the industrial units deal with pharmaceuticals, paints, pigments, metal treatment and steel rolling. They use inorganic and organic chemicals as raw materials, which are reflected in appreciable amounts in the effluents. Units in Patancheru and Bollaram discharge about five million litres of effluents everyday. A major part of the untreated effluents ultimately goes into nearby tanks and streams. A certain part is clandestinely disposed of in dry borewells.

K Subrahmanyam, scientist at NGRI, says the total dissolved solid (TDS) levels in groundwater have been reported to be as high as 2,310 mg/l in Patancheru borewells. The permissible limit for TDS is 500 mg/l, and the TDS concentration in the natural groundwater (from aquifers that have not been affected by human activity) in the area is 300-350 mg/l. The characteristics of these effluents are alarming. Independent studies show that various parameters, such as COD levels, are exceeding the prescribed limits. “The common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) at Patancheru and Bollaram do not work up to the required efficiency. So, effluents with TDS levels of more than 20,000 mg/l are only treated up to 8,000-9,000 mg/l levels. And many a time, these CETPs discharge the effluents in the nearby streams without treatment,” Chatterjee reveals.

The state government’s assessment observes that between 1984 and 1989, total land affected due to industrial effluents in terms of crop loss is 560 hectares in Patancheru and Bollaram. A 1991 survey by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, estimated the affected land area at 695 hectares belonging to 581 farmers. The survey revealed some unusual signs. People of the area complained of a plethora of diseases such as epilepsy, skin and throat problems, respiratory diseases, cancer and paraplegia (paralysis of both the legs), while pregnant women are giving birth to still-born children, says the NEERI expert.

N Ramdas Goud, 46, of Pocharam, says: “The colour of the groundwater became yellow 7-8 years ago. Our crops started getting damaged whenever we used water from the borewell. Cattle have died in the past after drinking the effluent water from a stream flowing near the village. This is why we launched an agitation against pollution and took the matter to the Supreme Court (SC).” Goud says that in its interim order, SC directed supply of clean drinking water and compensation to affected farmers (see box: Tankers from hell). “But, even today, many industrial units comply neither with judicial directives nor with administrative orders in establishing ETPs,” says K Purushotham Reddy, who heads the department of political science at the Osmania University, Hyderabad. He is the president of Citizens Against Pollution, an environmental activists’ group.

In a Panipat locality, a sign says in Hindi that the water from the handpump is unfit for drinking

Before making any mention of the status of groundwater in this industrial nerve centre known as ‘Manchester of India’, it is important to remember that groundwater is Ludhiana’s only source of water. The largest city in Punjab with about one million people, its annual drinking water requirement is 44 million cubic metres (cum), against an estimated annual replenishable groundwater of 23 million cum. So, to meet the demand-supply balance, deeper aquifers are being accessed and overexploitation is rampant. In order to provide assured water supply, the municipal corporation is exploiting groundwater resources through 80 extraction points. Besides most residents and industrial units also extract groundwater. And no prizes for guessing the status of the groundwater.

“Ludhiana city’s groundwater is just short of poison,” says M Mehta, regional director, cgwb, Chandigarh. The culprits are 1,311 thriving industrial units that are engaged in producing cycles and textiles, among other things, and include foundries. According to a CGWB report, the units are discharging about 50,000 cum of industrial effluents — mostly of toxic contents — each day into the Budha Nala, a stream that recharges the groundwater of the city. The stream travels through the city to the point of its confluence with the Satluj river 20 km downstream.

The pollution of groundwater reached such a proportion in 1993 that the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) wrote to the state government asking for signboards to be put around shallow tube wells stating ‘water unfit for drinking’. However, six years down the line, you can go round the city and not find a single signboard. Rather, people are still using water from shallow aquifers. “The first aquifer is already polluted. If not checked it would percolate down to the deeper aquifers,” says R Nath, who was professor of biochemistry at Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh, before he retired.

To identify the industrial units pumping effluents directly into aquifers, the ppcb put a series of advertisements in newspaper declaring a cash award to informants. “Not a single person informed us about it though there have been reports that some industries are doing it for years,” says D K Dua, member secretary, ppcb, Patiala. Yet, Dua insists, that pollution is reducing: “The pollution level in the groundwater is declining, as our studies show.”

But studies by CPCB, and more recently by CGWB, contradict Dua’s statement. CGWB’s report on Ludhiana’s groundwater status affirms that many industrial units are deliberately pumping effluents into the aquifers. The groundwater is a cocktail of heavy metals, cyanide, alkaline content and pesticides. The groundwater board found that levels of heavy metals such as cadmium, cyanide, lead and chromium were all above permissible limits in the shallow aquifers, while traces of arsenic were within the permissible limit. Small quantities of these heavy metals were also traced in the deeper aquifers.

ANKLESHWAR: The DTE/IIT test conducted on water from a well in Sarangpur village in Ankleshwar Industrial Estate (AIE), Bharuch district, revealed that the mercury level was more than 100 times the permissible limit. Water from a borewell in Bapunagar village near Ankleshwar had 170 times more mercury than is considered safe. The 1,605-hectare aie has about 1,500 industrial units, which manufacture dyes, paints and pigments, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and pesticides, among other things. Effluents from these units have severely contaminated the underground aquifers.

When the Down To Earth reporter visited a well in Sarangpur village, the colour of the water from a tubewell was red. “We are using this water for the past six years to cultivate wheat and cotton crops in around 2.5 hectares of land. We do not have any option,” says P T Patel, the owner of the well. In Bapunagar village, water from a tubewell is yellow in colour. This borewell draws water from 150 feet (46 metres). “In the past seven years, the water has become so polluted that we cannot even wash our clothes with it,” says Samar B Yadav, who owns the borewell. Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) officials have taken the water samples many times but have not taken any action so far, he complains. Villagers say GPCB officials have acknowledged the extreme toxicity of groundwater. “But we think they are as helpless as we are,” he adds. “The state and central governments are silently watching our pitiable conditions,” says Ziya Pathan, 39, of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

PSS has found that of the 65 handpumps and borewells in the slums of Shantinagar, Bapunagar and Miranagar on the fringes of aie, 55 yield coloured water. The colour varies from red to yellow to brown. As most borewells have been closed due to toxicity, there is little water for irrigation. Farmers in villages such as Dhanturia, Pungaman and Amboli use effluents for irrigation. “My entire crop was destroyed when I used water from the Piraman nala (a nearby stream that carries untreated effluents from aie to the Narmada river),” says J M Patel, 75, a farmer from Dhanturia, which is about 20 km away from gidc, Ankleshwar. He lost Rs 2,00,000 in the process.

VAPI: The situation in Vapi Industrial Estate (VIE) in Valsad district is no better than other industrial estates of Gujarat. More than 1,900 industrial units have jeopardised the groundwater resources of the area mainly by indiscriminate disposal of hazardous wastes and effluents. A fair share of the effluents is also being dumped into the ground. The DTE/IIT test conducted on a sample of water from a borewell in Chiri village near Vapi showed that the cod level was even more than the permissible limit for industrial effluent, and the mercury level was about 90 times the prescribed limit.

Factories in vie deal with some very hazardous chemicals, including pesticides and other agrochemicals, organochlorine chemicals, dyes, acids like H-acid, liquid chlorine and chlorine gas. Most of these substances have been banned in developed countries. “In fact, a ban in the industrialised countries is accompanied by a rise in manufacturing capacities of such chemicals in countries like India,” says Michael Mazgaonkar of PSS.

Gulab B Patel, a local leader in Chiri, says residents of the village are using red-coloured water for the past seven-eight years. “We have been drinking this water till recently. But we launched a major agitation against gidc and forced them to supply drinking water,” he says. For most other purposes, people in villages near vie use contaminated groundwater. Nearly 32 handpumps and 65 wells in the area reveal the presence of chemicals, Patel observes.

Local people say the major source of groundwater pollution is Rata Khadi, a seasonal stream near Chiri that carries effluent from Vapi to a CETP. The effluents carry organochlorines, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals. Patel says the colour of the groundwater is the same as that of the effluents. In 1996, the villagers fought a case against gidc in the Gujarat High Court, Ahmedabad, on the issue of groundwater pollution. The verdict went in favour of the villagers. But, till today, the situation remains the same, says Patel. In the past 15 years, CPCB and GPCB have taken groundwater samples from these villages on several occasions. But no action has been taken so far.

Polluted water from a Nandesari handpump

NANDESARI: The Nandesari Industrial Estate (NIE) near Vadodara is a major production centre for highly toxic chemicals, like h-acid, which are not easily biodegradable. “Disposal of untreated mercury-contaminated effluent from caustic manufacturers has heavily contaminated groundwater in the Nandesari,” says a report submitted by the Union ministry of environment and forests to the World Bank.

NIE is situated along the Mini river, and has about 250 industrial units dealing with chemicals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, pesticides and plastics, among other things. A recent environment impact assessment conducted by the National Productivity Council (NPC) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, says the groundwater has been severely contaminated down to a depth of about 60 metres. Water samples from a borewell dug by GIDC in Nandesari show 14.82 mg/l of lead, whereas water near the GIDC dump in the area had 38.25 mg/l of lead. The permissible limit for lead in drinking water is a mere 0.05 mg/l.

Reckless dumping of effluent and hazardous waste is as common here as in other industrial areas of the state. About 80 companies send their effluents for secondary treatment at the cetp in Nandesari. Says a chemist employed at the plant: “Whenever we find that effluents are not as per the required standards, we do not allow them to discharge the effluents into the CETP.” But there are more than 267 industrial units in the area. The chemist says he does not know where other companies send their effluents.

Kiritsinh M Gohil, sarpanch (head of the village council) of Nandesari village, says: “Bad government policies have made the area hell for the poor villagers. In the past, several animals have died after drinking the polluted water, whereas people have faced serious health problems.” Udaysinh R Gohil, a resident of Nandesari, recalls that in 1965, GIDC told farmers that once the industrial area is set up, their earnings will increase by leaps and bounds as they will get jobs and other benefits. But soon after a few chemical industries were set up, crop production started decreasing, says Udaysinh R Gohil, adding that most of the land in Nandesari is barren now. He recalls that in 1982, severe water contamination was reported in the area for the first time. But no effective steps have been taken so far.

Ironically, instead of solving the pollution problems in the region now, there are plans to increase the number of units in the industrial area. “Authorities from the industrial area have approached us several times to buy our lands,” says the sarpanch of Nandesari. Pollution is bound to increase in the absence of effective pollution control measures.

No way back Bichhri’s polluted groundwater Once polluted by industry, groundwater is very difficult to clean up. This is the lesson learnt from the Bichhri experience. Situated about 12 km from Udaipur, the groundwater of Bichhri, spread over an area of 300 hectares, is stark red. And as the groundwater moves naturally to other aquifers, it pollutes that water as well. Seventy wells used by some 10,000 residents have been rendered completely useless, and the 22 villages are without any drinking water now. In 1983, an H-acid manufacturing unit ruined the groundwater — seemingly forever. After a 1996 order from the Supreme Court (SC), officials of the Union ministry of environment and forest (MEF) and other state departments concerned have tried hard to clean up the water. But it seems virtually impossible, mainly for two reasons: firstly, cleaning groundwater is very difficult, and, secondly, even if it is possible, the cost is prohibitive. The cost of cleaning the polluted water of Bichhri is estimated at Rs 40 crore. SC ordered the clean-up of groundwater after auctioning the factory’s property. This came to a miserable Rs 5,00,000. “Cleaning the water of Bichhri is just impossible. Like the H-acid (which is used in dyeing and does not allow the colour to fade), the groundwater polluted by it also refuses to its shed colour,” says Kishore Saint of the Udaipur-based non-governmental organisation Ubeshwar Vikas Mandal, which helped in bringing the Bichhri case into the limelight. In 1990, SC ordered de-watering of the affected wells to clean them. The Rajasthan Pollution Control Board opposed this on two grounds. Firstly, after de-watering, the wells had to be filled with freshwater, which was unavailable. Secondly there was no feasible method to clean the polluted water, which, if dumped, could pollute further. “Till now, we have not decided exactly how to clean the polluted water,” says Tapan Chakravarty, deputy director of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, which has been assigned the task of cleaning the water. “It is going to be a very difficult affair. That is why pollution of groundwater is serious,” says Chakravarty.

What goes down must come up August 31, 1999