The level of ground water pollution is increasing in Bangalore, having adverse impact on humans.
By Priyanka Ghosh
Bangalore: Ground water pollution is emerging as a serious problem as severe harmful chemicals are being present in the water particles such as nitrate, iron and arsenic which is very much detrimental to our health and can even cause Cancer and other health threatening diseases.
According to the officials of the Ground Water Pollution Control Board, the ground water pollution has increased by 80 percent since the last five years and the main sources of these are industrial pollutants and dumping up of hazardous waste which also includes CND waste, municipal waste and solid waste.
Dr. Jaiprakash Reddy, who is the Chief Officer of the Pollution Control Board says, “The main sources of this pollution are Industrial pollution, dumping up of hazardous waste like CND Waste, municipal solid waste and disposal of garbage. We are regularly trying to monitor the situation by examining the quality of the water and also legal actions are being initiated by closing down the industries such as Graphite India Limited which are the main causes of ground water pollution. We are trying to collect the samples of the water bodies in a legal way and then analysis and parameter checking of the drinking water are being done and accordingly actions are being taken. The proper E.T.P (Effluent Treatment plants) are not been set up by the industries which in turn is triggering to ground water pollution.”
At the same time proper STP’s (Sewerage Treatment Plants) are also not being established which in turn is leading to severe ground water pollution. Untreated household water needs to be treated by these plants.
Debanjan Dutta, an Engineer by profession says, “I stay in Electronic City and there we get inadequate supply of clean drinking water. We are using water filters and put baking soda on the water and in this manner we are managing. Undoubtedly the industries are responsible for this because they dump the heavy toxic metals and industrial waste into the water bodies. BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) is also not taking any legal action on them. The government should put emphasis on the Rain-water harvesting techniques and at the same time, strict laws should also be implemented against such people.”
Also it is been seen in the reports that the excessive use of chemicals by the farmers like fertilizers and pesticides to increase the crop productivity is also responsible for the ground water pollution.
Prakash Mehra, a retired Officer says, “We do not get regular supply of water and on top of that the water which we get is not at all suitable for drinking. We had tried to complain to the water department officials but in return we did not get any response from them. They always keep on pointing and blaming others for their own actions.”
Experts say that the contaminated ground water can lead to severe health issues which can even affect some of our vital body organs like the brain and the lever. Thus proper treatment filters should be installed and the steps which are triggering ground-water pollution must be addressed correctly and awareness should also be created.
