In the past there have been several cases where industries and factories have dumped their chemical-infused toxic water into rivers. Such acts prove dangerous not only for the river, but also to the organisms living in the river and the surrounding environment. It is high time that the administration takes some stringent measures to stop such acts.
Amid such conditions, a fresh case of negligent behavior of industries has surfaced in Bharuch-Ankleshwar. Industries of the area, by taking advantage of the ongoing unseasonal rains, have dumped their toxic waste water into the Narmada River. Due to this, the fish in the river died, and a large amount of white foam was observed floating on the river.
On this issue, Vijay Rakholiya, officer of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), said that it is not necessary that the foam on the river is caused by effluent. During the first rains, water comes from all areas, and apart from that, garbage is also present on the ground. This garbage gets mixed with rainwater, and eventually reaches the river. This might also cause foam. Still, samples have been taken from the Narmada River to investigate the reasons for the produced foam, he added.
Industries in Bharuch have been letting out their toxic water into the river through canals. To be precise, aquatic creatures in the Amravati Bay, Narmada River, and Jhagadiya’s Kuber Bay have been dying due to this toxic waste. This incident prompted the GPCB to take samples of the polluted water. The GPCB has speculated that polluted water had come from the Kuber Bay of Jhagadiya to the Amravati Bay, which caused the death of the aquatic creatures.
Salim Patel of the Nature Conservation Board expressed his outrage aimed at such industries and said that in the Amla, Amravati, Chhapra, and Kuber bays of Ankleshwar, thousands of aquatic creatures have died due to the polluted water.
Meanwhile, Kamlesh Madhiwala, president of the fishermen community said that there are a lot of industries and factories in Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Panoli, Jhagadiya, Palej, Dahej, Vaagra, Vilayat, and Jambusar, among other places. Toxic waste water from these industries is dumped into the nearby rivers without getting filtered. This results in the death of the fish. He added that if such situations continue, then the fishermen will also lose their livelihood.
On the other hand, while there is a ban on the immersion of the idols of gods and goddesses in the Narmada River, there have been no steps taken to stop the dumping of waste water in the rivers. The idols are immersed in man-made water tanks, whereas there is no provision of the waste water that is let out in the rivers throughout the year by the industries.