Jal Shakti Ministry conference: PM Modi says maximum work under MGNREGA should be done on water
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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The Union Jal Shakti Ministry has organised a national level conference bringing together key policy makers to discuss “ways to harness water resources for sustainable development” in Bhopal from January 5-6.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday shared his remarks at the all-India water ministers’ meet on the theme ‘Water Vision@2047,’ calling for clarity in vision among all levels of government when it comes to water preservation.
Lauding the mission, Modi said the nation is working together to build 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district. Until now, 25,000 have already been constructed, he said.
Modi also urged that the maximum amount of work in MGNREGA should be done in the field of water conservation.
Highlighting the importance of collaboration, Modi said water preservation cannot be achieved by the government’s efforts alone and that the public, local communities and civil societies need to collaborate with the administration.
“The biggest perk of jan bhagiadari (people’s participation) is that the public gains awareness of how much hard work and money is going into this initiative,” Modi said.
Water conservation begins even at the panchayat level, Modi said, where the “Catch the Rain” initiative had started but needed more work to be deemed a success. Governments need to start planning and strategising well before the rains begin, he said.
We need to use technologies like geosensing and geomapping in the field of water conservation, Modi said. Jal Jeevan Mission has become a major development parameter to provide water to every household, he added.
The Union Jal Shakti Ministry has organised a national level conference bringing together key policy makers to discuss “ways to harness water resources for sustainable development” in Bhopal from January 5-6.
My remarks at All-India Water Conference on the theme ‘Water Vision @ 2047.’ https://t.co/HIV0t1dbgA
Speaking at the conference, Modi said both the industry and agriculture sector in India need water. Within agriculture, natural farming should be heavily promoted to help conserve water. Over 70 lakh hectares of land were using micro irrigation through the “Per Drop More Crop” initiative, he said. It needs to be pushed further and other initiatives such as the use of pipelines instead of direct canals need to be considered, he added.
With a focus on a circular economy, Modi said reusing more rain water and conserving more fresh water will go ahead to benefit our own ecosystem. Treating and recycling water will boost our economy as it can helps generate income as well, he said.
As growth and urbanization accelerate, we too need to advance in our water and sewage treatment techniques, the prime minister added. He also urged the public to save India’s waterbodies and rivers which are the most important feature of our water ecosystem. Local needs need to be mapped and initiatives must address those issues to be successful.
The primary objective of the two-day ‘All India Annual State Ministers Conference on Water’ is to gather inputs for the India@2047 and ‘5P’ vision from the different stakeholders of the states and also to improve engagement and partnership with the states and to share the initiatives and schemes of the government, the ministry said in a statement.
While addressing the challenges of water security as part of the India@2047 plan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier proclaimed the ‘5P’ mantra for sustainability, it said.
The ‘5P’ stands for political will, public financing, partnerships, public participation and persuasion.
With an objective to enhance the insights of this conference, there will be one plenary session which will set the agenda of the conference with focus on Water Vision@2047.
The conference will have five thematic sessions viz water security in water deficit; water surplus and hilly regions; water use efficiency including reuse of waste water/ grey water; water governance; climate change resilient water infrastructure; and water quality.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will attend the conference. Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will chair one of the important thematic sessions on water governance during the conference, the statement said.
With agency inputs.
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Hyderabad to double treatment capacity of Hussain Sagar sewage treatment plants
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Hyderabad currently produces 1,950 MLD of sewage, of which 772 MLD is treated and then discharged into water bodies.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has invited bids for the tender of upgrading the three existing sewage treatment plants (STP) near Hussain Sagar Lake. The capacity of the STPs near Kukatpally, Indira Gandhi rotary and KIMS hospital, Patigadda need to be upgraded.
The estimated cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 127 crore, as per the tender documents on the HDMA website. The project has an estimated commercial operation date of 18 months. Interested agencies can bid with Rs 25,000 non-refundable fee.
Currently, Hussain Sagar Lake sees polluted water discharged into it by various drains leading to water pollution and environmental degradation. The contractor who wins the tender for the expansion project will also have to be responsible for the tertiary treatment including Operation & Maintenance (O&M) for 20 years for the waters of the Hussain Sagar Lake.
The move has been taken in order to progress further towards the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department’s goal of treating 100 percent of the sewage generated by the city. If achieved, Hyderabad would become the first city in the country to completely treat all the sewage waste it generates.
“Increasing the capacity of STPs will have a huge impact on the quality of Hussain Sagar water by cutting down water pollution drastically. With the city growing rapidly and taking into consideration the increase in population density, a long-term strategy is to put in place the required infrastructure to treat more water that enters into Hussain Sagar,” an HMDA official told Telangana Today.
Hyderabad currently produces 1,950 MLD of sewage, of which 772 MLD is treated and then discharged into water bodies. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) will soon be setting up 17 new STPs with a combined capacity of 376.5 MLD to further improve treatment capacity. The new STPs will be built along the River Musi for a total cost of Rs 1,280.87 crore.
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Ships are dumping bilge water into European waters up to 3,000 times a year, much more than what’s reported
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Up to 3,000 cases of bilge water, which is a mix of potentially toxic substances, are illegally dumped in the European waters every year to cut down on operational costs of treating it.
A higher incidence of illegal discharge of oil by commercial ships on European waters may be happening than publicly acknowledged, said a report
Up to 3,000 cases of bilge water, which is a mix of potentially toxic substances, are illegally dumped in the European waters every year to cut down on operational costs of treating it, a report by European non-profit newsroom Lighthouse Reports and nine European publications revealed.
Dumping oil wastewater into the ocean has been banned for decades. However, seafarers use different techniques to bypass pollution laws and dump oily wastewater in the ocean, endangering life underwater.
What is bilge water?
Bilge water is a noxious mixture of oil, detergents, water, liquids from the engine room and metals such as lead and arsenic. While the ship makes its journey, these get collected at the bottom of the vessel called the bilge. This is known a bilge water, which is then stored in tanks. A single merchant ship is capable of producing several tonnes of bilge water in a day.
As per international regulations, large ships need to treat the bilge water with an “oily water separator” before dumping it into the ocean. However, the process of treating the bilge water to remove pollutants is expensive. In a bid to cut costs, ships dump the pollutants without treating it directly into the ocean, posing a serious threat to marine life, The Guardian reported.
How much spill are we talking of?
With the help of satellite data from environmental group SkyTruth, hundreds of potential dumps across the globe had been identified in 2021. However, the number of oil spills may be higher as SkyTruth satellites cover less than one-fifth of the world’s oceans.
The report estimates the amount of oily water that makes its way into the ocean could be over 52.8 million gallons annually, nearly five times the amount spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.
Slow action
Despite the use of sophisticated technology in capturing spills, countries have been slow in taking action or prosecuting the perpetrators, leading to a culture of impunity, The Guardian reported.
In Europe, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) monitors oil spills in the ocean waters through its CleanSeaNet initiative. CleanSeaNet analyses satellite images and reports potential oil discharges from ships.
Once a potential spill is noticed, an alert is sent to the relevant EU country, which inspects the site immediately and feeds its findings to EMSA. However, annual CleanSeaNet data reveals that the feedback levels from the governments are low. While the agency recorded 7,672 detections of potential oil spills, it has received feedback for only a third. Of the total detections, only 208 were confirmed to be oil slicks.
According to a report by EMSA and European Environment Agency, if a country takes longer time to inspect the detection, the chances of it being reported as “nothing observed” become higher.
Another problem is that even if countries identify potential illegal dumping of bilge water, they are not bound to report the subsequent action taken by them.
“You can give governments all the best tools in the world but if there’s no public accountability and pressure for them to use those tools, problems will not get fixed,” John Amos, president of SkyTruth, told The Guardian.
Merchant ships can be penalised with hefty fines for illegal dumping of bilge water. In 2016, Carnival’s Princess Cruises was fined $40 million for dumping bilge along the British coast.
However, these fines are not high enough to deter the ships from spilling bilgewater.
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Research identifies fresh ‘mixers’ in river pollution ‘cocktail’
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Pollutants can move at different speeds and accumulate in varying quantities along rivers where the mix of the complex ‘cocktail’ of chemicals that is making its way towards the ocean is constantly changing, according to a new study undertaken as part of a partnership between Indo-UK projects.
Water quality in rivers is affected by underpinning ‘natural’ hydrogeological and biogeochemical processes, as well as interactions between people and their environment that are accelerating stress on water resources at unprecedented rates, according to a new study undertaken as part of a partnership between Indo-UK projects.
Pollutants can move at different speeds and accumulate in varying quantities along rivers where the mix of the complex ‘cocktail’ of chemicals that is making its way towards the ocean is constantly changing, the study reveals.
Researchers found that characteristic breakpoints often found when a tributary joins the main river or significant point sources exist can change the behaviour of some compounds, causing the concentration of these chemicals to change drastically, depending on where they are on their journey down the river. Large river systems, such as the Ganga, provide crucial water resources with important implications for global water, food and energy security. Understanding the complex dynamics of such systems remains a major challenge, said Stefan Krause, Professor of Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry at the University of Birmingham.
“The breakpoints we have identified in India change the behaviour of some compounds, altering the composition of the cocktail of chemicals flowing down the Ganga to the ocean,” Krause said. The professor said breakpoint analysis could be a “game changer” in understanding how pollutants travel along major watercourses allowing us to identify the hotspots’ which will shed new light on the behaviour of aquatic pollution and how better to tackle this global challenge.
Experts discovered the phenomenon after piloting a new, systematic approach to understanding hydrogeochemical dynamics in large river systems along the entire length of India’s River Ganges (Ganga) from close to its source in the Himalayas down to the Indian Ocean. This new research approach proven successful at the iconic Ganga can be applied to other large river systems across the world hopefully shedding new light on how to tackle the global challenge of aquatic pollution by multiple interacting contaminants.
Publishing its findings in Water Research journal, the international research team, which includes experts from the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester and other Indian and UK collaborators, reveals that chemicals including nitrate, chloride, sulfate, calcium, sodium and strontium are cut and boosted in different proportion by a series of breakpoints along the Ganga.
They found that mixing, dilution and weathering are key processes controlling major hydrochemistry – identifying four major breakpoints which alter the concentration of at least four chemicals in the river. Five minor breakpoints affect the water mix of 2-3 chemicals, with two single’ locations impacting on just one parameter.
Informed by a 2019 post-monsoonal survey of 81 bank-side sampling locations, researchers identified five major hydrogeochemical zones – characterised, in part, by the inputs of key tributaries, urban and agricultural areas, and estuarine inputs near the Bay of Bengal. Our research helps to understand the downstream transitions in the chemistry of the River Ganga providing important baseline information and quantification of solute sources and controls, said Laura Richards, the study’s lead author from the University of Manchester.
In addition to improving the understanding of a river system as environmentally and societally important as the Ganga, the systematic approach used may also be applicable to other large river systems, Richards said. The novel research approach brings systematic insight into the factors controlling key geochemistry in the Ganga – one of the world’s largest and most important river systems, flowing over 2,500-km from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, through one of the world’s most densely populated areas.
As a major source of livelihood, the river is a key water source to more than 400 million people and very important to many social and religious traditions in India, but faces increasing environmental challenges associated with rapid development, climate change, increasing urbanisation, water demand and agricultural intensity.
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Numerous fish factories provide employment to the locals of this region in Patagonia. But they also discharge untreated effluents into the lagoon, causing this startling colour and accompanying odour.
A lagoon in Argentina’s Patagonia has turned a bright pink and started to smell foul. But it is not the first time that the lagoon has changed colour. So what caused it to go pink? It is the usual suspect — pollutants, that are being dumped into the water body.
Environmental activists and scientists have said the colour is due to a chemical used to preserve fish and prawns for exports.
“The coloration is due to a preservative called sodium sulfite,” Argentina-based environmental engineer Federico Restrepo told AFP.
The compound flows into the lagoon from the Chubut river, where numerous fish factories have been set up upriver in Trelew. According to Argentinian law, the effluent must be treated before being dumped into water bodies. Locals in the nearby settlement of Rawson have been complaining of pollution and blocked the roads for trucks carrying processed fish waste to the water treatment facility on the edge of the town.
Pablo Lada, an environmental activist, said, “We get dozens of trucks daily, the residents are getting tired of it.”
The provincial authorities reportedly allowed the trucks to dump the untreated waste into the river and lagoon due to the protests.
The authorities are looking to minimise the environmental impact of the incident.
“The reddish colour does not cause damage and will disappear in a few days,” Juan Micheloud, the environmental control chief for Chubut, told AFP.
The head of the Rawson Environmental Sociedad Anónima (RASA), the organisation responsible for the handling effluent, said the bright pink colour was not due to any contamination but due to a lack of oxygen, in a local radio interview. He added that RASA was not responsible for the lagoon’s unusual appearance.
However, activists and residents do not share that opinion.
“It is not possible to minimise something so serious,” said Sebastian de la Vallina, planning secretary for the city of Trelew.
“Those who should be in control are the ones who authorise the poisoning of people,” Lada added to AFP.
While the fishing industry provides plenty of jobs to the 600,000 residents of the Chubut province, locals often suffer due to the effluent discharged by the factories.
“Fish processing generates work… it’s true. But these are multi-million-dollar profit companies that don’t want to pay freight to take the waste to a treatment plant that already exists in Puerto Madryn, 35 miles away, or build a plant closer,” said Lada.
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In August this year, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) filed a criminal case against the mayor, commissioner and four other officials of the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana, a large industrial hub in the northern state of Punjab. The charge was non-compliance of environmental laws in operating sewage treatment plants (STPs). The case highlighted the …
In August this year, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) filed a criminal case against the mayor, commissioner and four other officials of the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana, a large industrial hub in the northern state of Punjab. The charge was non-compliance of environmental laws in operating sewage treatment plants (STPs).
The case highlighted the gravity of the environmental problem that’s taken over Ludhiana. But it was not the first time that the samples at the STPs had failed quality checks. Nor is Ludhiana unfamiliar to pollution. Pollution, especially water pollution, has been plaguing the industrial hub for years now and it earned the tag of one of the critically polluted areas of India way back in 2010. The PPCB’s action is part of recent heightened activity on monitoring water pollution in Punjab. Its genesis was an order from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on November 14 last year, 2018, where the tribunal imposed a fine of half a billion rupees (Rs. 50 crore) on the state government for polluting rivers Sutlej and Beas.
At that time, NGT had been hearing a bunch of petitions, including one by an activist from the neighbouring state of Rajasthan, who claimed that polluted river water from Punjab was being supplied to Rajasthan through canals, resulting in life-threatening diseases like cancer, kidney failure and hepatitis. The tribunal also formed a monitoring committee that has been tracking action on the ground, fixing responsibilities of officials and submitting its findings during the ongoing NGT hearings.
Sutlej, one of the five rivers that flow through Punjab, is the most polluted river in the state and the city of Ludhiana is the biggest source of pollution in its catchment. As the largest urban habitation and a business powerhouse of the state, Ludhiana conveys around 764 million litre per day (MLD) of its industrial and domestic sewage to the river through Buddha Nullah, which was earlier a freshwater stream, Buddha Dariya. Of the 2,423 industrial units in Punjab polluting the Sutlej, 2,028 are in Ludhiana, according to the Punjab government’s Clean River Sutlej 2019 action plan.
The testing of river water showed that it remains Class C before point of confluence with Buddha Nullah. Class C means it can be used for drinking with conventional treatment followed by disinfection. Downstream of the confluence, however, the water deteriorates to worst possible quality of Class E, which is fit only for irrigation, industrial cooling and controlled disposal. Several studies over the years have found heavy metals, chemicals and organic compounds in the water that is supplied to households in south Punjab and Rajasthan.
Ludhiana pollution emergency escalated with court order a decade ago
On November 9, 2004, the then Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Ranjan Gogoi, received an unusual letter. Nirbhai Singh, a prisoner of Central Jail, Ludhiana, complained that black smoke from dyeing factories nearby engulfs the jail after 5 pm, turning the barracks into gas chambers. Prisoners suffer from incessant cough and itching in their eyes every night. Upon inquiry by court, the dyeing industry claimed innocence and alleged that the air pollution in the jail is infact from the city’s garbage that is dumped on the banks of Buddha Nullah near the factories, and set on fire.
As the court was taking cognisance of the incident, more reports started coming from Ludhiana. A series of articles by regional newspaper, The Tribune, highlighted how Buddha Nullah gets around 300,000 (3 lakh) tonnes of untreated sewage and 60,000 cubic metres of industrial effluent discharge daily, comprising poisonous heavy metals like arsenic, chemicals like cyanide, harmful pesticides and toxic organic compounds. Scientists and doctors provided evidence, including cases of chronic lead poisoning, that a health emergency was unfolding in the city. Ludhiana had expanded exponentially but had no waste management plan.
Soon, two petitions were filed by the dyeing industry pleading its right to operate and seeking funds for effluent treatment. The court bunched the cases and formed an expert committee to identify the problem areas. Dyeing units were found to discharge maximum industrial effluents, electroplating industry was responsible for the hazardous metal waste, while residential and dairy sectors made the bulk of sewage and solid waste.
Coloured discharge of dyeing industry coming from Jamalpur STP in Ludhiana. Photo by Manu Moudgil.
By the time the court closed the case five years later, in 2009, three STPs for sewage and a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) for electroplating industry were set up while a biogas plant was proposed for the dairy sector.
However, with another 10 years having passed, the pollution persists. Rise in population, expansion in built up area and failure of most measures that were put in place for waste management, compounded the problem.
“The only good thing that happened after the court order was proper disposal of hazardous waste coming from electroplating units to some extent. The waste was not huge but needed urgent attention,” said Ravneet Singh, a city resident and member of Naroya Punjab, an umbrella group of organisations campaigning for clean environment. “At all other levels, the proposed solutions have either not been implemented or they don’t work efficiently.”
STPs not capable of treating overload of sewage
Today, Ludhiana has five sewage treatment plants with a total capacity of treating 466 MLD of sewage, while the city generates over 700 MLD of sewage Additionally, these plants don’t function regularly due to technical (equipment damage) and financial (high operation cost) reasons. Industries discharge their untreated effluent directly into municipal sewers, not only overloading the sewers but also damaging equipment at STPs.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has notified quality standards for release of industrial effluents into public sewers. Lately, the board has been persuading water polluting industries to set up common effluent treatment plants and aim for zero liquid discharge by reusing or recycling the effluents.
Several sewage outlets open directly into the nullah. “During monsoon, these outlets get blocked and the sewage pushes back, flooding the streets,” said Yash Dogra, a resident of Kirpal Nagar.
A sewage outlet opening directly over Buddha Nullah on Tajpur road in Ludhiana. Photo by Manu Moudgil.
Solid waste generated by households and dairy sector continue to choke Buddha Nullah. The municipal corporation desilts the stream regularly but more garbage appears in next few weeks. “Until the source of pollution is controlled, the stream will remain polluted,” said Pooja Rani who runs a small grocery shop at Shivpuri colony on banks of Buddha Nullah. “When there is excess water during monsoon, water comes out to the streets which is why locals dump soil on its banks every year. We are used to living with the stink. Diseases like skin allergies and malaria are regular here.”
The state and centre government have already spent around Rs. 5.5 billion (Rs. 550 crores) on the cleaning of Buddha Nullah. Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has also been earmarking funds over the years for its clean up. As per the financial statements of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, in 2016-17, Rs. 6.3 million (63,17,534) were spent in the cleaning of Buddha Nullah while around Rs. 78.5 million and Rs. 15 million were spent in 2015-16 and 2014-15 respectively.
Distant voices of victims
Manewal village, around 20 kms aerial distance from Ludhiana, gains nothing from its proximity to the business hub. But it bears the brunt of the pollution that the city has been releasing to its surrounding villages.
A small habitation of around 400 families, Manewal is where the city’s polluted waters merge into Sutlej. Landholdings are small and most villagers work as farm labourers besides rearing animals.
The sewage from Ludhiana pollutes groundwater in Manewal and leads to diseases in the people and livestock. The authorities of the village are frustrated. “So many politicians, officers and mediapersons have visited us. Scientists take water and soil samples but no real solution is provided,” said 66-year-old Kartar Singh, a resident of Manewal. “There was a time when people from far off used to come to take a dip in Buddha Dariya as its water was supposed to cure diseases. Today, it’s the opposite.” Skin and hair diseases and hepatitis are common ailments in the village.
Being close to the river, groundwater can be accessed at 50 feet but it is not of good quality. “The water is always foaming. The crop yield we get is around 10 quintal per acre less than other areas,” said Gurmeet Singh, who owns land in Manewal. “I have installed a submersible motor pump now with the hope that water is of better quality at greater depth.”
The contamination also affects livestock usually reared on groundwater. “Many times, buffaloes are not able to bear calves. The milk yield we get is half that of other villages,” said the village sarpanch Shivinderpal Singh.
A 2016 study done by researchers at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University had found oxidative damage among cows bred on fodder irrigated with sewage water from Buddha Nullah. Oxidative damage can lead to decreased reproductive and productive performances. The mean levels of heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic and nickel were found to be above the normal limits in tested cows.
Another study done by the zoology department of Punjab Agricultural University found that the fish collected from Sutlej downstream of Buddha Nullah had significantly higher damage to their gills and liver as compared to fish from around 2-5 km upstream where the water is less polluted.
Sutlej meets Beas river at Harike near the India-Pakistan border. From there, the water is diverted towards Rajasthan and south Punjab through canals. Both regions are plagued with high incidences of cancer, genetic diseases among children and other chronic ailments.
“We use the canal water for all purposes from drinking to irrigation. Cancer, hepatitis, and kidney diseases are very high in our region,” said Mahesh Pediwal of Tapovan Trust, a Rajasthan-based organisation campaigning for clean water.
New action plans
The recent intervention by NGT, fixing the responsibilities of officials and departments, has again pushed the authorities to come up with solutions. One of the proposals is to release around 200 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of fresh water from Sirhind canal into Buddha Nullah to dilute its pollutants.
Work is also on to upgrade an existing 48 MLD STP and three CETPs of a total 105 MLD capacity for dyeing units. Negotiations are on for shifting of the dairies out of city limits.
The high cost of maintenance and operation of treatment plants, however, is a dampener and Punjab has been seeking assistance from the Centre to deal with river pollution.
“The cost of operating a sewage treatment plant comes to around Rs. 7 lakh (Rs. 700,000) per MLD per year, besides pumping cost and other expenses. While for initial capital, 33 percent funding will come from the Centre under AMRUT scheme, rest of the capital as well operating cost will be borne by the state government and municipal corporation,” said Ajoy Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Punjab State Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Secretary (local government). “Operating cost for treatment plants, pumping stations and sewer network will be around Rs. 100 crore (Rs. 1 billion) per year for 700 MLD of sewage.”
Discharge from a sewage treatment plant meets Satluj river near Ludhiana. Photo by Manu Moudgil.
Ludhiana city mayor Balkar Sandhu, one of the co-accused in the case filed by Punjab Pollution Control Board for non-operational STPs, is out on bail. He said the plants don’t function because of the high cost, but he is hopeful. “The monthly electricity bill for STPs comes to Rs 1.5 crore (Rs. 15 million), which is too high for a municipal corporation to bear. I am sure with the new action plan, we will have enough funds especially because Ludhiana generates so much revenue,” he added.
The three common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) for the dyeing industry will be managed by the Dyeing Manufacturers’ Association. “All the dyeing units will get meters installed at their outlets and pay the monthly bill based on water sent for treatment,” said Ashok Makkar, president of Dyeing Manufacturers’ Association. “Other small-scale, scattered units will have to install their own effluent treatment systems.”
From Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2009 to NGT in 2019, the issue of Ludhiana’s pollution has come full circle with a slew of new solutions proposed. The environmental consciousness is higher this time ar
Alternative methods of domestic sewage treatment which can bring down costs are yet to be explored by the state. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS), which can be installed in neighbourhoods, do not need a large sewerage network and consume less energy. An 8-10 kilo liter per day capacity of a DEWATS plant costs around Rs. 250,000-300,000 for construction and annual operation and maintenance cost comes to Rs. 3,000-5,000. Bio remediation, initiated by the Delhi government, which involves the use of vegetation to create an artificial wetland ecosystem for sewage treatment, has been found to bring good results if maintained properly. For bioremediation, the capital cost comes to Rs. 38,000 per acre and annual operations and maintenance costs are Rs. 280,000 (2.8 lakh) per acre.
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Efforts on to restore Kerala’s second largest freshwater lake
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Situated about nine km from Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station, the approximate spread of the Vellayani lake is around 1,853 acre, but due to encroachment, it has shrunk to a mere 428 acre.
Work is in progress to restore Vellayani lake, the second-largest freshwater lake in Kerala that supplies 2 crore litres of water every day to the public water supply system, to its glory.
Situated about nine km from Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station, the approximate spread of the lake is around 1,853 acre, but due to encroachment, it has shrunk to a mere 428 acre.
The lake is a prime source of drinking water in the district and has a unique ecosystem featuring some of the rarest birds, fish and flora, said Abey George, Secretary of Swasthi Foundation which has spearheaded plans for rejuvenating the lake.
In May, the process of de-weeding was started using mechanical weed harvesters. So far, one-third area of the lake has been cleared of weeds and dredging will begin shortly, he said.
“The de-silting operations with the help of the Irrigation Department will add a mean depth of 1.5 meters to the lake and increase its storage by nearly three times. After dredging, bio- and phytoremediation will be implemented to improve the water quality, which has been adversely affected in recent times,” George added.
He said the work is expected to finish in another 150 days and once that is done, the State Tourism Department will step in and promote the site as a tourism spot with activities like a walkway around the lake, aqua sporting activities, and fishing.
A survey was also conducted covering all aspects of the lake – its existence, factors contributing to its deterioration, effects on local life, water quality, water table, biodiversity and fauna.
The efforts are supported by private organisations and the government also provides technical and administrative help.
State Irrigation Minister, K. Krishnan Kutty, early this week visited the lake and applauded the work being done there.
“The state government will play its role and has begun issuing tenders to buy state-of-the-art equipment from the Netherlands, which is to be used to clean lakes,” said Kutty.
A former official of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, KP Laladhas, said people’s participatory approach is essential for the successful conservation of any natural ecosystem and the Vellayani ecosystem is an abode for indigenous and migratory birds.
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Fishermen-turned-farmers paddle through aquatic plants on Varthur Lake in Bangalore, on March 16, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie BanerjiA fisherman-turned-farmer collects aquatic plants from Varthur Lake as fodder for his cattle in Bangalore, on March 16, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie BanerjiFisherman-turned-farmer paddles through swathes of aquatic plants on his coracle on Varthur Lake in Bangalore, on March 16, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA fisherman-turned-farmer poses for a photo as he and his colleagues collect aquatic plants from Varthur Lake as fodder for their cattle in Bangalore, on March 16, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA fisherman-turned-farmer stands next to coracles near Varthur Lake in Bangalore, India on March 16, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie BanerjiConstruction labourers work to rejuvenate dried up Avalahalli Lake in Bangalore, on March 14, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriStray dogs walk into the water at Jakkur Lake in Bangalore, on March 15, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA washerman soaks clothes in detergent water at an open-air laundromat in Bangalore, on March 13, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA worker welds together a water tanker at a local manufacturing workshop in Bangalore, on March 12, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA local worker dries clothes in a machine at an open-air laundromat in Bangalore, on March 13, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA washerman beats clothes on a flogging stone at an open-air laundromat in Bangalore, on March 13, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriRaghavendra CP, an executive engineer at the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, poses for a photo in Bangalore, on March 15, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA worker welds together a water tanker at a local manufacturing workshop in Bangalore, on March 12, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriA washerman wrings out clothes at an open-air laundromat in Bangalore, on March 13, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan ZaveriVishwanath Srikantaiah, a water conservation and urban planning expert, poses for a photo near Jakkur Lake in Bangalore, on March 15, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie BanerjiWater tankers line up at a water filling station in Bangalore, on March 13, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie BanerjiAjay Kumar, a local water tanker driver, poses for a photo in Bangalore, on March 14, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rajan Zaveri
Sabarmati, the river that Gandhi once chose to live by, is now dry and polluted
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Gujarat’s Sabarmati river no longer carries freshwater when it enters Ahmedabad city as stretches have dried up or are stagnant and polluted, finds an investigation.
Significant stretches of Gujarat’s Sabarmati river have gone dry or are plagued with pollution, says a latest report by a team of activists and environmentalists. The river in the Ahmedabad city stretch, before the Sabarmati Riverfront, is dry while the stretch along the Sabarmati Riverfront, is brimming with stagnant water, the investigation found.
The report, by non-governmental organisation Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), also revealed that 120 kilometres of the river, before it meets the Arabian Sea, is ridden with industrial effluent and sewage.
It noted that the Sabarmati river “no longer has any freshwater when it enters the city of Ahmedabad” and that 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,” said the report.
The report investigated compliance to a February 2017 Supreme Court order regarding industrial effluent and sewage discharge into the Sabarmati river stretch of Ahmedabad district.
The Supreme Court’s order was on a writ petition filed by the PSS against the Union Government and others regarding the polluted state of the Sabarmati river. The court had ordered the GPCB to ensure that the polluting industries to treat their effluents and municipal authorities to treat sewage before being let into the river.
The activists, in a statement, said that their 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 sewage into the river.
They emphasised that the GPCB failed in its duty to protect the Sabarmati river’s water quality despite orders of the SC and the National Green Tribunal, which sought strict compliance of effluent treatment standards, continuous monitoring and closure of defaulting industries.
Samples were taken by a team of four members – Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant from PSS, Mudita Vidrohi from the Gujarat Lok Samiti and Subodh Parmar, an advocate of the Gujarat High Court – in the presence of the of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) officials who also took samples.
Vidrohi of the Gujarat Lok Samiti said they got samples tested in a separate government approved laboratory while GPCB tested in their own laboratory.
“The results that we have published are the one that the GPCB has given to us. We have our own results also which are even worse. But to make it authentic and credible we have used the GPCB data,” said Vidrohi.
According to the study, the levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) at the Sabarmati river downstream were nearly nine times and 150 times more than the prescribed limits. Similarly, at the Sabarmati Riverfront, the levels of TDS and BOD were nearly 1.33 times and nine times more than the prescribed limit.
An investigation by activists reveal pollution in water in the Sabarmati river. Photo courtesy of Mudita Vidrohi.
Originating in the Aravalli hills in Rajasthan, Sabarmati river meets the Arabian sea in the Bay of Khambhat area after traversing a distance of 371 kilometres. It has a total catchment area of 21,674 square kilometre.
Sabarmati Riverfront is a Gujarat government project which includes creation of 11.25 kilometres of public riverfront on both banks of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. The development work includes major interceptor sewer lines to control pollution on the river banks.
“The existing norms about the release of STPs (sewage treatment plants) and CETP (common effluent treatment plants) discharge in river are prepared on the assumption that a river is flowing. So when the treated industrial effluent and sewage is released into the river, it is believed that the waste will be diluted further by mixing with the water, making it less harmful. But the reality of Sabarmati river is that it does not have even a drop of water flowing into it. So, whatever flows into Sabarmati river beyond Ahmedabad till it meets the Bay of Khambhat after 120 kilometers is only untreated or ill-treated STP and CETP discharge,” Vidrohi told Mongabay-India.
Noting that the level of pollutants in Sabarmati river are “alarmingly critical” and at dangerous levels far exceeding the permissible limits, the report said that 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 Sabarmati river downstream of riverfront who rely on the river water for their daily use and livelihood.”
It stressed that some of the direct and indirect effects of the high levels of pollution in Sabarmati’s water on the people and environment includes “contamination of groundwater, food contamination, associated health hazards, loss of natural river habitat, depletion of groundwater levels due to lack of water recharge, loss of flora and fauna.”
Opposition to take up the issue of water and air pollution
Manish Doshi, who is the chief spokesperson of the Indian National Congress party, Gujarat, said that environment is one of the critical issues for his party in the 2019 elections.
“In Gujarat, water resources including the Sabarmati river, are highly polluted. The issue of water and air pollution is a key component of our manifesto for the 2019 elections. This issue is directly connected with the lives of people of Gujarat,” Doshi told Mongabay-India.
Activists warn that usage of polluted Sabarmati water for agriculture is an issue of grave concern. Photo courtesy of Mudita Vidrohi.
Explaining further, Doshi said that the issue of pollution in Sabarmati river directly concerns three of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat – Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West and Gandhi Nagar.
“It (water and air pollution) will be an important issue for our party in not only Ahmedabad area but across Gujarat. We do not support development which comes at the cost of destruction of natural resources. This model is not acceptable to us,” Doshi added. All 26 seats of Gujarat, currently with the Bharatiya Janata Party in power, are going to the polls on April 23.
According to the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), of the 351 polluted river stretches identified across India, 20 are in Gujarat.
Take action against polluting industries
The investigation report called for urgent action to rejuvenate and restore the Sabarmati river and its water quality. It demanded from the GPCB to immediately issue closure notices to all the defaulting industries and the CETPs in Ahmedabad’s industrial clusters, in the implementation of the SC’s order.
It also demanded from the GPCB to issue notices to the municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad to ensure all the sewage treatment plants in the area comply with the order.
“GPCB should file criminal cases against all owners/directors of the defaulting polluting industries, the officers of the CETPs, and the municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad,” the statement from activists said.
Mudita Vidrohi said the polluted water of Sabarmati is with which “farmers irrigate their land and grow food which is eventually served in our plates.”
“The most worrying factor is that everyone – pollution controlling authorities, government and the local civic bodies – know about it. The riverfront is filled with Narmada waters and it is stagnant because the water is stopped at Vasna Barrage to maintain its levels in the riverfront. Unfortunately, people are still not standing up and seeking clean rivers. Recently, fishes in the Sabarmati riverfront have died in large numbers due to almost zero oxygen in water. As the heat increases, the condition is going to get even worse,” she added.
Meanwhile, the activists further demanded that GPCB investigate groundwater contamination as well as contamination of the food grains, vegetables and fodder by the polluted water of Sabarmati.
The activists sought an interim compensation for farmers who are forced to use contaminated Sabarmati river water and groundwater for irrigation of agricultural land and asked for medical services for the farmers and villagers who suffered from the pollution.
They further asked for an 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.”
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