Editorial
Now, it is groundwater pollution
Immediate action on rivers is an imperative
THE extent of pollution seeping into our rivers is mind-boggling and has been that way for years together. If there ever was any hope that remedial measures would be taken to deal with the problem, it now seems that hope was belied. That much becomes clear through a front-page report in this newspaper yesterday. Pollution in the rivers has reached such an alarming point that now even the groundwater system is getting contaminated. That is most distressing, given that aquifers are recharged from the riverbeds and the water is then made available to the population. Our report, based on the findings of a survey carried out jointly by the World Bank and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), points up the dilemma we have before us. We either let the pollution take wider swathes of our rivers or we take decisive action against all those individuals and elements responsible for the degradation of the rivers.
Clearly, with the scarcity of water (apart from scarcities of other sorts) taking increasingly serious levels, it is but natural that action to clean up the rivers be undertaken on an urgent basis. Unfortunately, demand for such action has grown over the past many years, with industries responsible for depositing their effluents in the rivers repeatedly warned about the need to clean up their act. That warning, repeated over time, has not been heeded. It is also clear that the authorities responsible for ensuring pollution-free rivers and other water bodies have failed to do their job. The result is not only a number of muck-filled rivers but also increasingly narrowing rivers owing to the deposition of effluents as well as unlawful filling in of rivers by unscrupulous elements. The precarious nature of the situation cannot be ignored. With the surface water already contaminated, as much as 85 per cent of the demand for water in the nation's capital is met from groundwater sources. Now, with even the groundwater levels becoming afflicted by pollution, it is the health of citizens that is endangered.
The water issue needs to be tackled on a priority basis. That calls for some steps to be taken, swiftly and ruthlessly. Firstly, a comprehensive monitoring of the riverbanks must be initiated, the objective being ensuring that effluents are not dumped by industries. Factories indulging in such acts must be quickly penalised. Secondly, a long-term and focused clean-up operation of the riverbeds must be undertaken. Finally, a detailed programme of river dredging of the polluted, narrowing rivers must be prepared and put into implementation mode.
Civic problems and efforts towards their resolution are almost always the basis on which the performance of a government is judged. The water crisis, in that sense, is a sure test for the administration.
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