Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions
Rivers and coasts in India's most developed and most polluted state of Gujarat are fast turning into dumps of toxic industrial effluents. As both the Administration and the industry shy away from their responsibilities, its impact will be catastrophic on marine, human and other lifeforms, writes Arnold Christie
A recent police complaint against the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has alleged that leakages in the effluent pipeline from Jhagadia industrial units have contaminated water bodies - fresh water ponds and the Amravati Creek - in Ankleshwar taluka. An edgy GPCB has rushed its officials to collect samples of the polluted water following the complaint from villagers of Dadhal, a tiny village in Bharuch district.
On December 11, 2009, the Ahmedabad Police raided a textile factory in the Narol area and seized a tanker which was dumping concentrated acid in sewage. After analysis, the chemical was found to be hazardous for any lifeform. On July 3, 2010, police filed a chargesheet against four arrested during the seizure. Last week, GPCB has issued closure order against Electrotherm's iron pipe manufacturing plant situated at Shamkhiyali in Kutch. The firm had allegedly started operations without environmental clearance from the Centre and NOC from GPCB.
Millions of litres of untreated effluents were being pumped into the Arabian Sea in Valsad district of south Gujarat. At the vanguard of the legal battle in the Gujarat High Court is the Parsi community that made Sanjan its home after fleeing Iran 1,300 years ago. The crisis has already taken a huge toll on the marine eco system of the region. Ten million litres of toxic chemical effluents have been dumped into the Arabian sea from the Sarigam Industrial Estate off the coast of Sanjan. In April, 2010, Gujarat High Court ordered that 22 units be shut down for lacking requisite facilities to treat effluents. This is the grim reality hidden behind the facade of impressive industrial growth in Gujarat's Golden Corridor - spread from south Gujarat to north Gujarat.
Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh announced after his visit to Ankleshwar in September, 2009, that no new industry would be given permission till they spruced up their facility to meet the laid-down standards. The ministry will not give environmental clearance for new industries in the major industrial areas of Gujarat, at least till August this year. This ban order was issued in January 2010.
These are not isolated incidents. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in March, 2010, declared Gujarat as the 'most polluted state' in the country. About 80 per cent of total hazardous wastes in the country is generated by seven states; Gujarat tops the list. Gujarat accounts for 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste. Accusing the state government of not taking any remedial action, director of Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment) Mahesh Pandya says, 'Authority and industrialists are responsible for such a polluted environment. If we pursue the state government, they ask the association of industries to clean it up. These associations say it's not their responsibility. Now the toxins are affecting the masses.' Gujarat takes pride as the flag bearer of India's industrial might but it has come at a huge cost. A 400-km stretch between Vapi in south Gujarat and Mehsana in the north is dotted densely by waste dump hotspots. Rivers have become industrial gutters, hand pumps spew coloured water and open land, both government and private, is used to dump wastes. The major polluting units along the rivers include sugar, textile, electroplating, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, tanneries, dyes and dye intermediates, petrochemicals and steel plants among others. According to CPCB, the major reason for polluted river stretches in Gujarat is that effluents are directly discharged by the factories into these water bodies. Millions of litres of untreated effluents are dumped in major rivers like Narmada, Sabarmati, Mahi, Khari, Damanganga, Amalkhadi and in the Gulf of Khambhat. Convener of Gujarat Paryavaran Surakha Samiti Rohit Prajapati says, 'All the shocking figures had been obtained from GPCB and CPCB through RTI. In most cases, the presence of toxins are 300 per cent to over 1,000 per cent more than the levels set by the GPCB. Even the effluent treatment plants set up by the state and the Central governments are not functioning properly, adding to the problem.'
In a shocking revelation, GPCB sources admitted that the wastes discharged in the Damanganga from the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) of the industrial houses in Vapi contained 347 per cent more Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), 432 per cent more Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and 196 per cent more Ammoniacal Nitrogen (AN), a serious health hazard, compared to the GPCB-prescribed norms. The conditions are worse in Ankleshwar where 248 per cent more COD and 1,328 per cent more AN is dumped into the Gulf of Cambay. The effluent channel project of Vadodara dumping waste water into the estuary of the Mahisagar was found to be carrying 300 to 700 per cent more than the prescribed norms of COD, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), AN, TDS, Cyanide, phenols and other hazardous pollutants.
Effluents dumped in the Sabarmati from the industrial estates in Vatva, Odhav, Narol and Naroda around Ahmedabad were found to be alarmingly toxic, 2,926 per cent more of COD, 2,520 per cent more of AN and 780 per cent more of TDS. Industries in and around Vadodara are dumping huge quantities of hazardous chemicals into river Mahisagar and the Gulf of Khambhat. A latest CPCB report finds the effluents 15 times more toxic than the accepted limits.
The Gujarat Government's dream river front project is coming up on the banks of third most polluted river in the country. And it is not surprising that the state is also home to the first two most polluted rivers of the country. They are the Amalkhadi river at Ankleshwar and Khari river near Ahmedabad. The Amlakhadi, which meets Narmada in Bharuch district, has been reduced to an effluent channel by over 1,500 chemical units in Ankleshwar, Panoli, Vilayat, Dahej and Jhagadia. Recently, Jairam Ramesh called Vapi the most polluted town in the country. Forbes and Time have listed it among the 10 most polluted towns in the world. Its three streams ' Damanganga, Kolak and Balitha ' no longer bear a resemblance to flowing water bodies. CPCB has, in fact, categorised both the Damanganga and Kolak rivers as unfit to support life.
The river Han in Seoul, South Korea, was the most polluted river in the world a decade back. Today, it receives no more effluents. We can also follow the Seoul Model and save our rivers. Today, Gujarat's rivers hope that good sense will finally prevail over short-term considerations. Development is necessity but without an environment to sustain life, it will be meaningless.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
IIPM Lucknow – News article in Economic Times and Times of IndiaIIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps
Rivers and coasts in India's most developed and most polluted state of Gujarat are fast turning into dumps of toxic industrial effluents. As both the Administration and the industry shy away from their responsibilities, its impact will be catastrophic on marine, human and other lifeforms, writes Arnold Christie
A recent police complaint against the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has alleged that leakages in the effluent pipeline from Jhagadia industrial units have contaminated water bodies - fresh water ponds and the Amravati Creek - in Ankleshwar taluka. An edgy GPCB has rushed its officials to collect samples of the polluted water following the complaint from villagers of Dadhal, a tiny village in Bharuch district.
On December 11, 2009, the Ahmedabad Police raided a textile factory in the Narol area and seized a tanker which was dumping concentrated acid in sewage. After analysis, the chemical was found to be hazardous for any lifeform. On July 3, 2010, police filed a chargesheet against four arrested during the seizure. Last week, GPCB has issued closure order against Electrotherm's iron pipe manufacturing plant situated at Shamkhiyali in Kutch. The firm had allegedly started operations without environmental clearance from the Centre and NOC from GPCB.
Millions of litres of untreated effluents were being pumped into the Arabian Sea in Valsad district of south Gujarat. At the vanguard of the legal battle in the Gujarat High Court is the Parsi community that made Sanjan its home after fleeing Iran 1,300 years ago. The crisis has already taken a huge toll on the marine eco system of the region. Ten million litres of toxic chemical effluents have been dumped into the Arabian sea from the Sarigam Industrial Estate off the coast of Sanjan. In April, 2010, Gujarat High Court ordered that 22 units be shut down for lacking requisite facilities to treat effluents. This is the grim reality hidden behind the facade of impressive industrial growth in Gujarat's Golden Corridor - spread from south Gujarat to north Gujarat.
Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh announced after his visit to Ankleshwar in September, 2009, that no new industry would be given permission till they spruced up their facility to meet the laid-down standards. The ministry will not give environmental clearance for new industries in the major industrial areas of Gujarat, at least till August this year. This ban order was issued in January 2010.
These are not isolated incidents. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in March, 2010, declared Gujarat as the 'most polluted state' in the country. About 80 per cent of total hazardous wastes in the country is generated by seven states; Gujarat tops the list. Gujarat accounts for 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste. Accusing the state government of not taking any remedial action, director of Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment) Mahesh Pandya says, 'Authority and industrialists are responsible for such a polluted environment. If we pursue the state government, they ask the association of industries to clean it up. These associations say it's not their responsibility. Now the toxins are affecting the masses.' Gujarat takes pride as the flag bearer of India's industrial might but it has come at a huge cost. A 400-km stretch between Vapi in south Gujarat and Mehsana in the north is dotted densely by waste dump hotspots. Rivers have become industrial gutters, hand pumps spew coloured water and open land, both government and private, is used to dump wastes. The major polluting units along the rivers include sugar, textile, electroplating, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, tanneries, dyes and dye intermediates, petrochemicals and steel plants among others. According to CPCB, the major reason for polluted river stretches in Gujarat is that effluents are directly discharged by the factories into these water bodies. Millions of litres of untreated effluents are dumped in major rivers like Narmada, Sabarmati, Mahi, Khari, Damanganga, Amalkhadi and in the Gulf of Khambhat. Convener of Gujarat Paryavaran Surakha Samiti Rohit Prajapati says, 'All the shocking figures had been obtained from GPCB and CPCB through RTI. In most cases, the presence of toxins are 300 per cent to over 1,000 per cent more than the levels set by the GPCB. Even the effluent treatment plants set up by the state and the Central governments are not functioning properly, adding to the problem.'
In a shocking revelation, GPCB sources admitted that the wastes discharged in the Damanganga from the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) of the industrial houses in Vapi contained 347 per cent more Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), 432 per cent more Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and 196 per cent more Ammoniacal Nitrogen (AN), a serious health hazard, compared to the GPCB-prescribed norms. The conditions are worse in Ankleshwar where 248 per cent more COD and 1,328 per cent more AN is dumped into the Gulf of Cambay. The effluent channel project of Vadodara dumping waste water into the estuary of the Mahisagar was found to be carrying 300 to 700 per cent more than the prescribed norms of COD, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), AN, TDS, Cyanide, phenols and other hazardous pollutants.
Effluents dumped in the Sabarmati from the industrial estates in Vatva, Odhav, Narol and Naroda around Ahmedabad were found to be alarmingly toxic, 2,926 per cent more of COD, 2,520 per cent more of AN and 780 per cent more of TDS. Industries in and around Vadodara are dumping huge quantities of hazardous chemicals into river Mahisagar and the Gulf of Khambhat. A latest CPCB report finds the effluents 15 times more toxic than the accepted limits.
The Gujarat Government's dream river front project is coming up on the banks of third most polluted river in the country. And it is not surprising that the state is also home to the first two most polluted rivers of the country. They are the Amalkhadi river at Ankleshwar and Khari river near Ahmedabad. The Amlakhadi, which meets Narmada in Bharuch district, has been reduced to an effluent channel by over 1,500 chemical units in Ankleshwar, Panoli, Vilayat, Dahej and Jhagadia. Recently, Jairam Ramesh called Vapi the most polluted town in the country. Forbes and Time have listed it among the 10 most polluted towns in the world. Its three streams ' Damanganga, Kolak and Balitha ' no longer bear a resemblance to flowing water bodies. CPCB has, in fact, categorised both the Damanganga and Kolak rivers as unfit to support life.
The river Han in Seoul, South Korea, was the most polluted river in the world a decade back. Today, it receives no more effluents. We can also follow the Seoul Model and save our rivers. Today, Gujarat's rivers hope that good sense will finally prevail over short-term considerations. Development is necessity but without an environment to sustain life, it will be meaningless.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
IIPM Lucknow – News article in Economic Times and Times of IndiaIIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps
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