Cauvery River: The river originates from Brahmagiri hill. The pH value of the river varies from 6.5 to 9.4. In Salem district, the high‐level discharge of industrial effluents badly affects the planktonic population (Panigrahi and Pattnaik 2019). Different heavy metals have been found in the Cauvery River in excess amounts, such as Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Pb, which contaminate the water body.
Bandi River: The discharge effluents of textile dyeing units are the main cause of pollution in Bandi River, which is situated at Pali. Water quality deterioration of the Bandi River has an adverse effect on human beings and aquatic ecosystems. Textile dyeing industries have production capacities ranging between 725 and 3625 kg of cloth/day, while abstracting water that comes from this river is in the range of 30–275 m3/day and daily discharging wastewater has a high BOD and COD ranging from 41–76 l/kg.
Narmada River: The importance of this river can be identified by the fact that pilgrims performed a holy pilgrimage called Narmada Parikrama there. Along with industrial discharge, the other reasons for the deterioration of water quality of the Narmada River are human activities like the disposal of dead bodies and municipal wastewater. People in the adjacent area of the Narmada River suffer from health problems like gastric ulcers, skin problems, respiratory problems, diarrhea, and stomach problems (Katakwar 2016). The other major rivers of Gujarat, namely Sabarmati, Tapi, Mahisagar, and Damanganga, have been found to have a COD level in an extremely critical state (Pimparkar et al. 2016).
Damodar River: This river is the most polluted river after the Ganga. The level of coliform is higher due to wastewater discharged from cement plants, coal washing plants, and other industries. This leads to an increase in COD value, dissolved and suspended solids, and hardness. The other characteristics of water are pH in the range of 7.4–8.9, hardness ranges between 133 and 327 mg/l, Cr concentration between 30 and 160 μg/l, Cu concentration was found in the range of 10–56 μg/l, and Pb was between 38 and 146 μg/l (Panigrahi and Pattnaik 2019).
The status of other rivers and their tributaries contaminated from different types of industrial effluent in different states is explained in Table 3.2.
Impacts on rivers due to industrialization (Edokpayi et al. 2010; Gagan et al. 2016; Mali et al. 2015; Taskeena et al. 2017):
Industries are dumping toxic waste into water bodies, as a result of which, the DO of surface waters is falling at an incredible rate, endangering aquatic plants and animals.
Apart from the DO, the chemical composition of water is often modified, which deteriorates the water quality making it hazardous.
This has resulted in significant ecological degradation, such as a decline in water quality and availability, extreme floods, habitat loss, and changes in the distribution and structure of aquatic biota rendering surface watercourses unsustainable in the provision of goods and services.
Using poor‐quality water in agriculture can affect the crop yield and also causes food insecurity.
Toxic substances in water bodies may lead to a high population growth of pathogens in the water and the use of this contaminated water for domestic and other purposes is dangerous for human health and society at large.
This also affects wildlife groups that use surface water for drinking or as habitat.
Degradation of water quality, water supply degradation, and the destruction of marine biodiversity are influential environmental ecosystem characteristics that need immediate action at both global and regional levels.
Table 3.2 Impact of different types of industries on water bodies.
Source: Rajaram and Das (2008).
| Type of industry | Effects |
|---|---|
| Chemicals (dyes, paints, fertilizers, etc.)/Ankleshwar, Gujarat state | Amla khadi (a rivulet flowing through the industrial estate) in Ankleshwar carries extremely toxic, often acidic, dark brown or black effluent throughout the year |
| Foundry/Howrah, West Bengal state | Air heavily polluted by particulate matter, water contaminated by heavy metals viz. lead, cadmium, chromium, iron, manganese, and lead. Pollution potentially affecting about 1 million people in Howrah city and 4 million in Howrah district. |
| Chemicals (organic and inorganic, dyes, and pharmaceuticals)/Nandesari, Gujarat state | The Mahi River is contaminated by industrial effluents. Due to soil and groundwater contamination, both crop quantity and quality have declined tremendously, contributing to poverty in the region and forcing the local population to rely more heavily on industry for economic subsistence. This is harmful to humans because the polluted water leads to skin allergies, breathing and circulatory disorders, kidney problems, gastrointestinal disease, chronic stomach problems, and diarrhea, which have all been noted in communities. |
| Chemicals/Panipat, Haryana state | The concentration of mercury in the sample taken from a tube well near an industrial area in Panipat was 0.2683 mg/l, more than 268 times the permissible limit of 0.001 mg/l set by the World Health Organization for drinking water, according to the nongovernmental organization, the Centre for Science and Environment. |
| Mainly tanneries and textile dyeing/Palar River Basin, Tamil Nadu, India | According to a study sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, pollution loads in the Palar river are extremely high: total suspended solids, 29 938 kg/day; total dissolved solids, 400 302 kg/day; chloride, 101 434 kg/day; sulfide, 3818 kg/day; BOD, 23 496 kg/day; COD, 70 990 kg/day; total chromium, 474 kg/day; and cyanide: 22 kg/day |
| Chemicals/Vapi, Gujarat, India | Sediment and effluent in a channel bypassing the common effluent treatment plant and flowing into the river are heavily contaminated with cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. Greenpeace declared Vapi a Global Toxic Hotspot in 1999. |
3.6.3 Quality of Groundwater Resources in India Due to Wastewater Discharge by Grossly Polluting Industries and Its Impact
Groundwater, which is a precious and essential source of drinking water, must be cautiously maintained to maintain its quality under normal limits. In many parts of India, water available for industrial activities has reached a level of crisis. The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) reports states that out of the total replenishable groundwater (431.42 billion cubic meters), the percentage of total replenishable groundwater in the Ganga Basin is 39.6% and the other four basins are the Godavari at 9.42%, Brahmputra (6.15%), Indus (6.14%), and Krishna at 6.12% having more than 5% of total replenishable groundwater resources in the country (Parmar 2017). India observed a 40% decline of groundwater level in recent years (2017–2018) – an unsustainable rate. If this continues, it is estimated that nearly 60% of groundwater resources will be in a critical state by the year 2030. The status of the groundwater level in different states of India is shown in Figure 3.2 for 2018.
Figure 3.2 Status of groundwater level in India in 2018.
(Source: Groundwater Year Book – India 2017–2018.)
Groundwater depletion happens