Ludhiana District

Punjab, riding high on pesticides

Despite making sanitation a national priority with Swachh Bharat Mission, 50 percent of India defecated in the open till 2014. The goal to make India open defecation free by 2019 seemed ambitious. The government provided funding but it also sought active participation from the corporate sector.

Water pollution is a serious problem in India with 70 percent of its surface and groundwater resources contaminated by biological, toxic, organic, and inorganic pollutants. As a result, the socio-economic cost of poor water quality is high.

Sixty eight percent of India's population lives in rural areas but when it comes to facilities -- including the availability of safe drinking water -- cities and towns corner most of them.

Gurdeep Bains is busy dealing with two sets of contractors who have arrived to net his fish. He had to refuse a third. “This is the scenario when the market is supposedly down as people tend to avoid non-vegetarian food during saavan, one of the holiest months in the traditional Hindu calendar.

Sardar Sarovar dam height to be raised by 17m

Coca Cola plant in Mehdiganj lowers groundwater level

The level of nitrate in drinking water was tested from groundwater artesian wells located within farms and surrounded by crops (mostly rice and wheat rotations).

Nitrate pollution in groundwater is associated with nitrogen loads in the environment. In urban areas, it is associated with sewage and in agriculture areas, with livestock sources and nitrogen fertiliser inputs. Nitrate pollution in drinking water can have serious health impact on humans, especially for babies and children. The most significant potential health effects of drinking water contaminated with nitrate are the blue-baby syndrome (methemoglobinemia) and cancer.

Following the invitation of Member of Parliament (Ludhiana) Mr. Manish Tewari, the Hon’ble Minister for Environment and Forests Mr. Jairam Ramesh along with officials of the Ministry of Environment and Forests including the Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board, visited the site of the Buddha Nala in Ludhiana, Punjab in September of 2010.

Organizer: Crop Improvement Society of India

Venue: Ludhiana

Topic:

• Agriculture: Abettor and sufferer
• Mitigation strategies – Policy and Management interventions