Contamination, Pollution and Quality

In this report, the suitability of groundwater of the Doon valley, Dehradun has been demonstrated on the basis of standards prescribed by BIS and WHO. The groundwater quality of the valley has been studied during 1996 to examine the suitability of water for irrigation and drinking purposes. Twelve water samples representing the shallow groundwater of the valley were collected during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons and analyzed for various constituents, viz. pH, conductance, total dissolved solids, alkalinity, hardness, chloride, sulphate, phosphate, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

The report attempts to identify sampling sites for water quality monitoring in Narmada basin. The assessment of water quality conditions over a wide area with respect to time and space requires the monitoring of activities to be carried out in a network. The location of a permanent sampling station is probably the most critical factor in a monitoring network which collects water quality data. If the samples collected are not representative of the water mass, the frequency of sampling as well as the mode of data interpretation and presentation becomes inconsequential.

The report reviews compilation of information about arsenic pollution in groundwater experienced by many countries in the world and in particular the eight districts of West Bengal. The science of arsenic pollution and the state of art of arsenic removal have been discussed and some immediate remedial measures suggested.

Dr. G. D. Agrawal Scientist and Rishi

Meeting Dr. G. D. Agrawal in his spartan, two room cottage in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh, you would never guess what an accomplished and distinguished scientist he is – first Member-Secretary of the Government of India’s Central Pollution Control Board, former Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at IIT Kanpur and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. The list goes on and on.

Yet this eminent professional sweeps his own floors, washes his own clothes and cooks his own meals. He retains only a few possessions and dresses in homespun khadi. At the age of 76, his main mode of transport within Chitrakoot is a bicycle and when he travels further afield, he goes by ordinary bus and second-class train. These are the deliberate choices of a devout Hindu whose deepest values are for simplicity and reverence for nature. Dr G.D. Agrawal is the doyen of environmental engineering professionals in India. Well past retirement, he continues to teach and inspire students as an Honorary Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, in Chitrakoot (M.P.).

Had the opportunity to attend a recent worldwide gathering on the topic of youth and social entrepreneurship, which gave much food for thought. The event was the 5th Global YES Summit, entitled “ReWork The World”.  Details of the gathering are at www.reworktheworld.org . The message there  was that we need to do something radical in order to find productive work for the vast numbers of youth coming into the workforce especially in developing nations. The new jobs cannot be of the old variety, they need to be green, sustainable jobs. In other words, we need to ‘rework the world’.  The conference was based on the premise that these new jobs will come out of social entrepreneurship.

My house is about 20 years old and is located in R T Nagar in Bangalore. In 1990, I had got a borewell dug. The Borewell is about 150 feet deep and has been giving me excellent quality water until about 2 years ago when I started noticing muddy water. The water that is pumped to an overhead tank contains fine particles of mud which tends to settle down in the overhead tank.

The report presents the evaluation of water supply system of Kakinada town in Andhra Pradesh. The neglect of hydrology of a region, while undertaking planning and development works in an urban environment, has serious consequences, the most notable being non-availability of enough potable drinking water to citizens. Water budget studies can be undertaken with all the available records to improve the functioning of such systems and to identify additional alternate resources.

The report looks at groundwater quality and presents the results of the chemical analysis of groundwater samples from openwells & borewells of Belgaum district. The study broadly covers these aspects - (i) groundwater quality evaluation of the district (ii) identification of groundwater quality problems in various parts of district (iii) classification of groundwater, and (iv) application of DRASTIC model for assessing the vulnerability to groundwater pollution.

In the present study, surface and groundwater quality monitoring has been undertaken in parts of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir in order to evaluate its quality for domestic and agricultural purposes. Water sources are polluted by four kinds of substances: traditional organic waste, waste generated from industrial processes, chemical agents of fertilizers & pesticides used for crop production and silt from degraded catchment.

The report attempts to analyze the shallow groundwater table and water quality data for about 20 years pertaining to the Krishna delta. The trend analysis of groundwater level data of shallow wells indicates that in the upper part of the delta, the groundwater table moved up during the period 1979 to 1999. This may be due to the dense canal network in the delta and increase in irrigated area over a period of time.