POLLUTION CASE STUDIES
A case study of river pollution in India
Almost all the rivers in India are polluted. The causes of pollution may also be more or less similar.
This is a case study of the river Damodar as reported in Down to Earth. The 563 km long Damodar
River originates near Chandwa village in the Chhotanagpur hills in Bihar’s Palamau district. It flows
through one of the richest mineral belts in the world before draining into the Hooghly, about 50 km
south of Calcutta. Indian industry depends heavily on this region as 60 percent of the coal consumed
in our country comes from the Chhotanagpur belt. Coal based industries of all types dot the area
because of locational advantages and the easy availability of water and power. In addition various
industries such as the steel, cement, fertilizer and explosive plants are also located here. The river
Damodar is polluted with minerals, mine rejects and toxic effluents.
Mining
As underground mines cannot keep pace with the rising demand, 60 percent of the coal extracted
from the area comes from open cast mines which are responsible for serious land degradation. The
disposal of rock and soil extracted along with the coal only adds to the problem.
Industries
The industries in the area do not have proper effluent treatment plants. Among the big coal based
industries the washeries account for the bulk of the pollution in terms of the total suspended solids
(TSS), oil and grease. About 20 percent of the coal handled goes out in the form of slurry which is
deposited in the ponds outside. After the slurry settles, coalfine (the sediment) is collected manually.
Due to inadequate retrieval methods very often the water discharges into the river from the pond
carries high amounts of fine coal particles and oil thus polluting the river.
Flyash from the thermal power plants
Only one of the thermal power plants has an electrostatic precipitator to collect the fly ash while the
other just make do with mechanical dust collectors. As most of these plants are located on the banks
of the river the fly ash eventually finds its way into the river. The bottom ash from the boilers is
mixed with water to form a slurry which is then drained into ash ponds.
Effects
The river and its tributaries are the largest source of drinking water for the huge population that
lives in the valley. On April 2, 1990 about 200,000 litres of furnace oil spilled into the river from the
Bokaro Steel Plant. This oil traveled 150 km downstream to Durgapur. For a week after the incident
five million people drank contaminated water in which the oil levels were 40 to 80 times higher than
the permissible value of 0.03 mg/l.
A case study of groundwater pollution in India:
An example of groundwater pollution caused by excessive extraction is that fluoride contamination.
Fluorisis is not a localized problem. Fluoride mainly enters the human body through drinking water
where 96 to 99 percent of it combines with the bones as it has an affinity for calcium phosphate in
the bones.
According to a report of the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water mission, the bedrock of the Indian
peninsula consists of a number of fluoride bearing minerals. When the bedrock weathers the
fluoride leaches into water and the soil.
Fluoride can damage the foetus and adversely affect the IQ of children.
A case study of pesticide pollution in India:
One of the most terrifying effects of pesticide contamination of ground water came to light when
pesticide residues were found in bottled water. Pesticide residues of organochlorine and
organophosphorus pesticides which are most commonly used in India were found in all the samples.
Among organochlorines, gammahexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) and DDT were prevalent while
among organophosphorus pesticides, Malathion were most common.
Most companies use bore wells to pump out water from the ground from depths varying from 24m
to even 152 m below the ground. The raw water samples collected from the plants also revealed the
presence of pesticide residues.
There were no standards for bottled water in India till on September 29, 2000 the Union Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare issued a notification (no759(E)) amending the Prevention of Food
Adulteration Rules, 1954. The BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification mark became mandatory
for bottled water from March 29, 2001. However the parameters for pesticide residues remained
ambiguous.
Eventually on 18th July 2003 amendments were made in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules
stating that pesticide residues considered individually should not exceed 0.0001mg.lit and the total
pesticide residues will not be more than 0.0005 mg/lit that the analysis shall be conducted by using
internationally established test methods meeting the residue limits specified herein.
