The Samajwadi Party government, which allocated Rs. 400 lakh for cleaning of the Gomti river in the budget presented on Tuesday, is not “sincere” about cleaning the three polluted rivers of Western Uttar Pradesh: Kali, Krishna and Hindon.
Environmentalists and residents of the region affected by the polluted waters of the three rivers have criticised the non-allocation for cleaning these rivers.
The effluents released over the last decade by sugarcane and paper mills, slaughterhouses and other industrial units have made the water “poisonous.” Independent studies have shown an extremely high content of heavy metals and mercury, lead, zinc, phosphate, sulphide, cadmium, iron, nickel and manganese in the water which has become so poisonous that it does not have any aquatic life.
The water has contaminated the groundwater of hundreds of villages located on the banks of these rivers which flow through Ghaziabad, Noida, Saharanpur, Meerut, Shamli, muzaffarnagar and Baghpat.
Demands for “strong and sincere” efforts by the State to clean these rivers grew after cancer deaths due to water pollution came to light.
The National Green Tribunal took suo motu cognisance of the matter after The Hindu reported in November last about cancer deaths among villagers living on the banks of these rivers. However, the State pollution control board is yet to submit its reply to the Tribunal.
“We are extremely disappointed. When the government can allocate Rs. 400 lakh for cleaning the Gomti, it can certainly do something for cleaning the Kali, Krishna and Hindon rivers whose poisonous water has affected the lives and health of villagers living on their banks,” said Chandraveer Singh, a retired senior scientist of the Haryana Pollution Control Board and resident of Daha village in Baghpat.
According to Dr. Singh, who visited 80 villages along the banks of these rivers, water samples tested at SIMA Labs, an entity recognized by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the State pollution control board, had showed that the extent of pollution, for instance in the Krishna, was “disturbing.” “The total suspended solids were found to be 7500 mg per litre as against the permissible 200 mg. The presence of sulfide was 285 mg per litre as against the permissible 2 mg and iron was 38 mg as against 3 mg. Extremely high levels of mercury and lead were also found,” he said. Dharmendar Rathi, pradhan of Gangnoli village in Baghpat, petitioned the District Magistrate, the pollution control board and even the CMO.
