Ahmedabad: For almost three decades, the use of industrial wastewater for irrigation to grow vegetables has polluted land with heavy metals.
There are 43 villages along the Hilir Sabarmati from the Vastra-Narol bridge using wastewater “untreated”.
A study published in January 2021 by researchers from the National Earth Sciences Study Center, Thiruvananthapuram; Physical Research Laboratory, Sal Institute of Technology in Ahmedabad and PDEU, Gandhinagar, found that land samples from several villages had a high level of metal contaminants, which exceeded standards and India.
TimesViewNI 2018, the state government raises wastewater policy for city companies throughout the country regarding the reuse of wastewater discharges treated with irrigation and industrial use.
The policy, however, does not put a standard for heavy metal contamination, the quality of waste water before being discarded, and the frequency of quality monitoring.
The state government must remember the broader public health implications in the use of wastewater in Saroda, almost 20 km downstream, the land is acidic, research is reported.
Now when researchers tested eight soil samples from various villages, metal concentrations such as zinc were 421 micrograms per gram of land, while in the case of the manganese 336.
Copper was 201, chromium, nickel 42 and cobalt 9.
In all that, research claims that almost All heavy metals are found in twice concentrations that are permitted in accordance with WHO and Indian standards.
“Analysis that is closer to land data reveals that all metals exceed the upper limit of WHO or European Union standards,” said the report.
The researchers were Bibhabasu Mohanty, Anirban Das, Mandal Reema and Sukanya Acharyya from the PDEU and Sal Institute of Technology, and Banerji’s deposit represents PRL and NCESS, Thiruvanthapuram.
This study was further added, “Among the eight soil samples, the samples collected from Gyaspur had a maximum concentration of all metals analyzed compared to other sites.
Gyaspur is a waste from the Discarded Vastric processing plant, which leads to the maximum accumulation of metals It is in agriculture compared to all other sites.
“This study suggests that there is treatment of waste water and heavy metal monitoring in vegetables to understand the risks associated with the use of water.