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River Godavari
THE RIVER
The second largest river in India, Godavari is often referred
to as the Vriddh (Old) Ganga or the Dakshin (South) Ganga. The
name may be apt in more ways than one, as the river follows
the course of Ganga's tragedy: Pollution in this peninsular
river is fast reaching unsafe levels. The Godavari originates
near Triambak in the Nasik district of Maharashtra, and flows
through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and
Andhra Pradesh. Although its point of origin is just 80 kms
away from the Arabian Sea, it journeys 1,465 kms to fall into
the Bay of Bengal. Some of its tributaries include Indravati,
Manjira, Bindusara and Sarbari. Some important urban centers
on its banks include Nasik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nizamabad, Rajahmundry,
and Balaghat.
POLLUTION
Like most other rivers, domestic pollution is the biggest polluter
of the river Godavari, accounting for 82 per cent of total pollution,
whereas industrial pollution accounts for about 18 per cent.
Over half of the river basin (18.6 million ha), is categorized
as cultivable land. Most of the river’s water is drawn
for irrigation purposes. Application of fertilizers is very
high at 49.34 kg/hectares, almost double the country’s
average. Pesticides are also applied at the high rates of 146.47
kgs/sq. km of which 79 per cent are organochlorines. However,
the Central Pollution Control Board refuses to acknowledge the
pollution created by such high levels of fertilizer and pesticide
usage.
But the story of pollution in the Godavari river evolves around
the tiny Nakavaggu rivulet, which joins the Manjira, a tributary
of the Godavari. The rivulet is dead and supports no life. Highly
productive agricultural land surrounds the rivulet. More than
150 small and medium industries and several large industries
near the twin cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad release their
effluents into the Nakavaggu rivulet.
However most of the blame lies with the 72 industries in the
Patancheru Industrial area that have been dumping their effluents
into the river. Bereft of treatment facilities, industrial effluents
are let out into streams that collect in ponds. This overflow
later reaches the Nakavaggu. A drain leading to Nakavaggu also
carries effluents from BHEL, Asian Paints, and Voltas industries.
Industrial discharge from such industries has severely affected
public health, surface and ground water and agriculture in 22
villages in this area.
The river water is heavily used for agriculture, as it is the
only available water source. However, the river’s water
has turned the fertile soil toxic with heavy metals. The soil
contains heavy metals like iron, nickel, zinc, copper, cobalt
and cadmium.
Even the crop yield has suffered terribly. Before industrialization,
the land’s crop yield was 40 bags of paddy per acre and
is now a mere 10 bags. Toxic metals in the soil have contaminated
the crops, penetrated animal milk and affected human health.
Incidence of cancers has also sharply risen, including leukemia
in young boys, lung cancer in non-smokers and liver cancer.
Medical experts attribute these increased rates to high water
pollution. The polluted water has also seeped underground, contaminating
groundwater, and the surrounding soil is contaminated due to
acidification.
GOVERNMENT ACTION
In 1993, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court ordered
two paper mills in Paithan to stop discharging effluents into
the river and ordered the Beed Zilla Parishad to supply drinking
water for the affected villages.
During the hearing the state government admitted that the river
was polluted since 1984. After prolonged agitation by farmers
and pressure from citizen bodies, the district administration
got the courts to serve notice to 22 industries giving them
till September 1987 to establish individual Effluent Treatment
Plants (ETP’s). After the farmers filed a writ petition
against 220 industries in the high court, the government held
a number of public meetings to discuss short- and long-term
solutions. Twelve units were served closure notices on May 7,
1989. However, the industrial units obtained stay orders from
the court. With the court order going in favour of the industries,
he farmers filed petitions in the Supreme Court. The apex court
ruled in favour of the farmers and asked the state pollution
board to serve notices to 56 polluting industries asking them
to provide safe drinking water to the affected villages, restore
cultivable land, and provide monetary relief, medical care to
the victims, and ordered sustained vigilance of the industrial
discharge.
In compliance with the court order, the Andhra Pradesh government
decided to lay down a pipeline carrying industrial waste from
Patancheru to the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Amberpet in
2001. The STP already discharged treated and untreated sewage
into another river, the Musi. Instead of treating the waste,
the government just diverted the waste to another river. With
these developments it is clear that the government is least
interested in solving the problem; it just wants to circumvent
the court order.
PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT
What few steps taken to stop pollution in this river are the
outcome of efforts by the citizens of Patancheru town and Hyderabad
city. In 1986, citizens launched an awareness campaign against
river pollution. Dr Kishan Rao, a medical practitioner from
Patancheru and members of the Citizens Against Pollution (CAP)
movement initiated the campaign. Combined with the affected
communities, they formed the Patancheru Anti-Pollution Committee
(PAPC) in 1986. Activists staged dharnas, relay hunger strikes
and demanded that the state government end such pollution. Their
protests also included a Patancheru bandh and a 40-km long march
to the state assembly, where they presented a list of demands
to the then chief minister, N T Rama Rao.
Their demands included that each industry construct an effluent
treatment plant (ETP); that industries ensure adequate compensation
for degraded agricultural land and that they supply safe drinking
water to the affected villages. Farmers from the adjoining areas
of Sultanpur, Gandigudem and Krishnareddypeta organized a rally
as part of an awareness campaign in the Bollaram industrial
area on August 18, 1986, blocking roads leading to the industrial
area. Three days later, the PAPC held a dharna in front of the
Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Rangareddy’s office. The
outcome was a promise to control pollution.
Continuous pressure from the PAPC forced the district administration
to serve notice to 22 industries in the area. The courts set
a September 3, 1987 deadline to industries to build individual
ETPs. However, in the absence of any substantial results after
the due date, the PAPC announced its second phase of public
protests by organizing a ‘race against pollution’
on September 12, 1987. About 500 bullocks obstructed the Hyderabad-Mumbai
highway for over six hours. On October 9 that year, farmers
filed a writ petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court against
20 of the 22 polluting industries. (The two units, which were
left out, had initiated steps to set up ETPs).
Lengthy legal process started. In 1988, the government held
a series of meetings to discuss short- and long-term solutions.
Though a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) appeared to
be acceptable to most industries, some large industries claimed
that they already had their own ETPs. While talks flitted from
discussion table to boardroom, 12 units were served closure
notice on May 7, 1989. After the industries obtained a stay
order from the court, farmers and activists initiated another
agitation -- a rasta roko at the Bollaram industrial area, which
began on October 1990.
When a ruling by the division bench of the high court went in
favour of the industries, farmers approached the Supreme Court
through the eminent lawyer and Magsaysay award winner, M C Mehta.
The five-year long battle saw the apex court asking the Nagpur-based
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI)
to conduct an exhaustive report on industrial pollution in the
Nakavaggu basin.
While the NEERI report suggested compensation for the farmers
affected, the Supreme Court passed interim orders for industries
to immediately cease releasing effluents into water bodies.
The apex court observed that 56 industries were dumping untreated
effluents into the Isakavagu and Nakavaggu, polluting the rivers.
The court also sought provision of safe drinking water to the
affected persons by October 1998, restoration of cultivable
land by applying a suitable conditioner, that industries take
remedial action for 13 tanks by the year 2000, medical care
to pollution victims and sustained vigilance of industrial discharge.
The court order brought about some action. Piped safe drinking
water from metro water works was provided at a project cost
of Rs 5.5 crore. Monetary relief of Rs 2.13 crore has been paid
to the victims of pollution. However, pollution controlled measures
through CETPs is an unfinished task. Patancheru Enviro-Tech
limited (PETL), which is responsible for monitoring and maintaining
the CETPs, is managed by the executive board of 156 Patancheru
industries. But only 80 of them send their pre-treated effluents
to the three constructed CETPs.
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