Chandigarh: Chiding various Punjab departments for a “careless attitude” towards groundwater contamination, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the state govt to demarcate all its contaminated groundwater sources as “unfit for drinking” and make clean water available in those areas.
The NGT ordered the chief secretary to submit a reply and attend the next hearing on May 17 virtually.For this action, the tribunal of Sudhir Agarwal and Dr A Senthil Vel took suo-motu notice of TOI news report ‘Agricultural run-off causing groundwater pollution in Punjab, making drinking water unsafe, reveals study’. Mandi’s Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) had first observed an alarming increase in south-west Punjab’s groundwater demand and the detrimental local farming practice of its extraction from deeper geological strata that contain hazardous heavy metals and radioactive elements.
In response to this study, the tribunal had sought a report from the state govt on the source of heavy metals, radioactive substances, pesticides, and chemical pollutants found in the groundwater samples. Three years of sample testing had found beyond permissible limits of calcium, magnesium, sulphate, alkalinity, fluoride, and total dissolved solids in local groundwater. When the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also reported toxic metals, the tribunal said these findings supported the newspaper report “to some extent”.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the water supply and sanitation department’s response, the tribunal reminded it of its duty of providing rural areas with safe drinking water through underground, canal, or surface-based schemes. The department replied that its tubewell-based schemes extracted water solely for the drinking and cooking needs of the rural population. However, the reply had no details of any contamination or remedial action.
The tribunal regretted the Punjab departments’ “very careless attitude” and “very casual reply”. It remarked: “It appears that they have not understood even the seriousness of the matter.”
The NGT ordered the chief secretary to submit a reply and attend the next hearing on May 17 virtually.For this action, the tribunal of Sudhir Agarwal and Dr A Senthil Vel took suo-motu notice of TOI news report ‘Agricultural run-off causing groundwater pollution in Punjab, making drinking water unsafe, reveals study’. Mandi’s Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) had first observed an alarming increase in south-west Punjab’s groundwater demand and the detrimental local farming practice of its extraction from deeper geological strata that contain hazardous heavy metals and radioactive elements.
In response to this study, the tribunal had sought a report from the state govt on the source of heavy metals, radioactive substances, pesticides, and chemical pollutants found in the groundwater samples. Three years of sample testing had found beyond permissible limits of calcium, magnesium, sulphate, alkalinity, fluoride, and total dissolved solids in local groundwater. When the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also reported toxic metals, the tribunal said these findings supported the newspaper report “to some extent”.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the water supply and sanitation department’s response, the tribunal reminded it of its duty of providing rural areas with safe drinking water through underground, canal, or surface-based schemes. The department replied that its tubewell-based schemes extracted water solely for the drinking and cooking needs of the rural population. However, the reply had no details of any contamination or remedial action.
The tribunal regretted the Punjab departments’ “very careless attitude” and “very casual reply”. It remarked: “It appears that they have not understood even the seriousness of the matter.”
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