River Kali (East) in Meerut

The river covers a course of almost 48 Kms in Meerut, which is one of the most prominent districts of Western Uttar Pradesh. The river enters into the city accommodating a huge number of untreated wastes from various industries located in Muzaffarnagar. In addition to this, Meerut contributes to the pollution of the river through various augments which are discussed herein in detail.

1. Industries:

Over 25 industries add up to the list enumerating the sources of pollution to the river Kali as reported by UP Pollution Control Board adding to the water of the river through discharge of their effluents. Environment (Protection) Rules 1986 governs the waste being diverted to a fresh water source specifying the standards to be maintained for the effluents to be discharged into a surface water body. It creates an onus on the industry to comply with the above said norms but the amount of pollution and exploitation the river Kali is facing recites a different story. Amount of heavy metals clearly indicates that the industrial effluents have failed to comply with the statutory necessities.

Most of these industries either do not have a properly working treatment plant or else they do not have it at all. The resultant of this is that untreated water waste is directly drained into the river and thus polluting the river to great levels.

It includes all kind of industries from sugar to paper, from distilleries to alcohol manufacturingunits. The river has been exploited to the unwarranted limits. The prominent amongst the industries are Sri Ram Group of Industries which in itself comprises of various manufacturing units; United Spirits Ltd., Meerut Cantt.; Devpriya Group of Industries based in Saini Village, Meerut; Mawana Sugar Works Limited; UP State Sugar Corp. Ltd. (in Sakauti and Mohdinpur, both) drain untreated waste into the river along with many others.

The kind of heavy metals found in the river and the similar metals also forming parts of the effluents from these industries clearly gives space to a corollary that the norms specified by various legislations in regards to the protection of environment are being violated blatantly.

2. Sewages:

The catchment has inadequate sewage treatment facilities and so the Kali River (East) receives a large volume of untreated raw human excreta from thousands of major and minor habitations in the catchment. Numerous studies have shown human sewage to contain a wider range of heavy metal parameters.

There are 6 major sewages in District Meerut which all empty out in the River Kali (East) ultimately. They carry all the domestic water waste of a population of over 16 lakh which inhabits the city and the suburban areas.

The irony herein is that these waste water sewages which are maintained by the Municipal Corporation of Meerut, also the governing authority have never taken the pain to install a sewage treatment plant at the mouth of it before it joins the river.

A mechanism in this regards needs to be developed so as to prevent the pollution of the river to this grave extent. Because of these sewers adding up to the river water not only in Meerut but in other cities as well, the river itself does not look any better than a sewer and is a profound shame in the name of a fresh water source.

3. Slaughter Houses:

This is an important aspect to augmenting the pollution of the River Kali (East). Meerut witnesses successful running of various slaughter houses and the waste water has no other fresh water source to be drained into and thus finds a safe haven in the River Kali.

This is a matter of great concern because it carries with it good amount of blood and the chemicals being used for slaughter activities are dangerous to the river water. The water coming out of these consist of chemicals which are dangerous along with a good amount of bio-degradable products as well. Thus we suggest that a special mechanism or theeffluent treatment plant best suited for such houses shall be installed at each of these centres so that the amount of pollution happening doesn't cross the set standards under theenvironmental legislations.

4. Pollution from Villages

Even the domestic waste from the villages which is mostly non-biodegradable in nature is thrown into the water course because the villagers at present believe it to be dead and only a sewer. Thus they feel no shame in the same.

The river also receives considerable volumes of agrochemicals, either as direct run-off from land, or via hydraulic continuity with underlying groundwater aquifers which have themselves been contaminated. Extensive scientific research has shown that chemical fertilisers also contain a range of heavy metals contaminants and that these contaminants are known to leach through soils to underlying groundwater aquifers, causing contamination of thisimportant water resource.

As already mentioned, that approximately 1200 villages and sub-urban areas are located on the catchment of River Kali (East). District Meerut and Muzaffarnagar itself accounts for over 55 of these villages. Thus if accounted for as a whole, these villages contribute on a major scale towards the pollution of the river.

5. Sand of River Bed being Picked regularly

The past has witnessed that the sand from the river beds were picked for it being rich in alluvial levels and thus to be used sometimes as top layer of the agricultural field to increase its fertility. Though presently with the kind of pollution, the river is providing neither the water nor the sand from the river bed is worth a productive use.

However it has been regularly observed that the sand has been picked up from the bed of River Kali for construction purposes. This leaves the bed highly uneven, restricting the flow of the river. This restricted flow and the high chemical content in the river leads to heavy clotting of the water. This unwarranted clotting is a hazard in itself as it leads to the facilitation of the leaching of polluted water into the ground water aquifers. This kind of continuous leaching has led to the findings, suggesting presence of heavy metals in the ground water as well.

In addition to this, due to heavy chemicals being introduced into the river water through theindustrial water waste, the water clots have been formed at various places in the course of the river which amounts to water logging and thus immense leaching of the same polluted water into the underground water aquifers. This is a matter of serious concern as it is leading to the pollution of the ground water aquifers to great levels and thus leading to dirtier water being extracted for different usages.

The river which is meant to be a fresh water source is nothing but a major accommodation drain of the city presently. The odour and the colour which is felt crossing the river are as bad as a sewer. The pity is that the Government and Non Government Organisations have not been able to do much towards the river in the past two decades when the river has grown from a fresh water belt of the region to a dirty blot.