The Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) has informed the Supreme Court that groundwater around the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal is contaminated.
In an interim report submitted before the Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and J. Chelameswar, the IITR said 30 samples were collected from the disaster site. Nitrate level in nine samples exceeded the permissible limit prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards for drinking water and lead beyond the limit was found in 24.
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by the Research Foundation for Science.
The report, however, made it clear that the groundwater contamination posed no threat as the drinking water requirement in the area was being met through piped water supply. The samples were collected from shallow hand pumps and deep borewells in selected sites. They were being processed and the analysis would take three months, the report stated.
However, the IITR said that among heavy metals, the level of nickel in 12 water samples exceeded the BIS guideline value of 0.02 mg/L. But these were well below the WHO guideline value of 0.07 mg/L for drinking water. The levels of organic toxicants, too, were well below limits prescribed by regulatory agencies.
