Contamination, Pollution and Quality

This manual by the Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS/PAHO), under the aegis of the World Health Organisation (WHO), provides extensive information on various m

This manual is a self-instructional publication of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), as part of its case studies in environmental medicine series. 

This document published in Current Science includes a study from Jadhavpur University on the incidence of flourosis in Assam. The first case of endemic fluorosis in humans from India was reported by Short et al. from Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh in 1937. In 1950 only our states in India - Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were identified with people suffering from fluorosis.

The two documents describe five case studies that highlight some successes and best practices from the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Maharashtra.

Some new technologies and approaches for improving health through clean water - the work of the Aquaya Institute.
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This paper published by the Sehgal Foundation presents a case

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly describes the case of river Khari in Gujarat, which faced increasing amount of pollution due to the discharge of industrial effluents in the river and the efforts made  to solve the pollution problem.

The phenomenon of pollution started in the 1970s when Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Narol on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad city were promoted by the government. While there were zones for industries according to the type of waste generated, environmental considerations were overlooked and no provision was made for the safe disposal of industrial effluents. Most of the factories in the industrial estates were water intensive and all of them discharged effluents into the nearby Kharicut canal, which flows into the Khari river, a tributary of the Sabarmati. As the canal remained dry throughout the year, the government ignored its (mis)use.

This site by the Ministry of Environment and Forests provides the list of legislations on environment, forests, and wildlife

Legislation on waste/pollution control took into account not only the generators of waste but also the receiving environments. Limits were laid down in terms of standards for effluent or emission. Depending on the type of waste generator, there were specified limits for volume of waste and  characteristics of waste.

The objectives of the case study by TIDE supported by Arghyam on the Tirupur textile industry cluster included: