Gujarat rivers remain highly polluted despite norms

The unchecked circulate of untreated industrial effluent into rivers in Gujarat has led to growing air pollution within the Sabarmati, Mahisagar, Narmada, Vishwamitri and Bhadar. According to knowledge from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), the Sabarmati is among the many most polluted rivers within the nation.

Gujarat ranks fourth among the many prime 5 States with highly polluted rivers, with as many as 20 rivers within the critically polluted class.

Recently, a thick froth on the Mahisagar, alongside a stretch of a number of kilometres, raised critical concern, prompting the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to represent a high-level committee to check the rising stage of air pollution within the river.

“Pollution in rivers has emerged as a major threat in the last few years because the lackadaisical approach of the authorities has emboldened the industries to discharge untreated effluents into flowing rivers,” stated Vadodara-based environmental activist Rohit Prajapati.

He stated that each handled and untreated effluent is launched into the estuary of the Mahisagar and Gulf of Cambay, flouting the rules of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

As per the official parameters, if the chemical oxygen demand (COD), which signifies natural pollutant load, is larger than 250 mg per litre, then it shouldn’t be launched into the rivers.

“Most of the Gujarat rivers where the effluents are dumped into, the COD level is in the range of 700 to 1000 mg per litre. While Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level [indicating the health of a river] in perennial rivers like Mahisgar should be in the range of 6 to 8 mg per litre, it is actually below 2.9 mg per litre,” he added.

In December 2020, Mr. Prajapati and some others wrote a letter to the State authorities offering proof, together with movies and images, of how poisonous effluents had been being dumped into the Mahisagar and different rivers by industries.

“The Vadodara Enviro Channel Ltd, which runs a 55-km-long pipeline to discharge treated effluents into the deep sea, releases the effluents into the river. The effluents are not getting discharged into the deep sea as required,” a former official of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board informed The Hindu.

Now, the State authorities has proposed a ₹2,300 crore undertaking for a deep sea effluent disposal pipeline to cater to just about 4,500 industrial models. The undertaking will serve 4 highly industrialised districts (Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Kheda and Rajkot), that are the principle sources of air pollution of the rivers Sabarmati, the Mahisagar, the Vishvamitri and Bhadar.

The Centre had allotted virtually ₹200 crore to curb air pollution within the Sabarmati from 2014-15 to 2017-18 however the state of affairs has solely worsened.