S I T E   D O S S I E R

Nandesari, Gujarat, India

 Site Description
 Site Progress


Site Description

The village of Nandesari (population 7,259) lies on the banks of the Mini River, a stone's throw from the city of Vadodara. Nandesari is in the middle of Gujarat's "Golden Corridor", a 400km belt of industrial estates that has helped make the state one of the most industrialized in the nation. Despite this, about two-thirds of the state's population still subsists on agriculture, tending crops like wheat, millet, and rice.

The Nandesari industrial estate is made up of about 250 small-scale companies, mainly focused on organic and inorganic chemical compounds, dyes and pharmaceuticals.

Pollution in the Mahi River was first reported in 1968. Villagers in the area complained to the local authorities about the death of fish and cattle, and contamination of water tanks and wells. Groundwater pollution also became a major problem. To this day, villagers complain of reddish-yellow wellwater that kill crops on contact.

To answer these complaints, the government of Gujarat built a 56 kilometer-long effluent channel to divert industrial waste from Nandesari and other estates into the Gulf of Cambay. The industrial plants were expected to treat the effluents in their own treatment plants before they were dumped into the channel, but local groups suspect that indiscrimate dumping is taking place. This channel has been used by local farmers over the years as a free source of irrigation water. A common effluent treatment plant (CETP) was built in 1984.

Studies done on the effluent channel in 1995 showed high metal concentrations of nickel, lead and zinc, as well as unacceptable levels of chlorides, sulfates, nitrates and metals in groundwater near the channel. Also, produce grown in the channel areas have a higher metal content than fruits and vegetables grown elsewhere.

Only 80 of the companies on the site are known to send effluents to the CETP. Simply dumping waste into ditches and bore holes is common practice, according to Greenpeace India.

In 1996 and 1999, Greenpeace took samples of wastewater and sediment in and around the Nandesari industrial estate. The group found that sediment from the treatment plant's settling lagoon was heavily contaminated with organochlorine compounds and heavy metals, including copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. The water from the effluent channel was contaminated with chlorinated benzenes and some heavy metals, such as chromium, manganese and zinc. (See Greenpeace report for detailed test results.)

In unpolluted rivers, cadmium, chromium and mercury concentrations tend to be less than 1 micrograms per liter (ug/l) (see U.S. EPA's water drinking standards), while copper, lead, nickel, and zinc levels are around 20 to 50 ug/l. According to the Greenpeace report, cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead were found in the milligrams per liter (mg/l) levels, while mercury concentrations were at levels usually associated with discharge from gold mining operations. (See Greenpeace report for testing results.)

Organochlorine compounds are suspected carcinogens and nervous system agents which tend to accumulate in fatty tissue and can be found in breast milk. Exposure to chromium, used in the production of metal alloys such as steel, as well as in tanning and dye production, leads to skin irritations and liver damage. Copper causes intestinal distress in the short-term and liver and kidney damage over the longer term. Lead, a heavily regulated metal in the United States, can cause developmental delays in children and kidney problems in adults. Mercury poisoning can lead to brain and kidney damage. Minerals such as manganese and zinc are essential for human health in small amounts, but in large doses can lead to brain, liver and kidney damage.

Though Polluted Places knows of no scientific studies that have been done on the health of residents of Nandesari and nearby villages, anecdotal reports point to a higher than normal rate of skin allergies, breathing and circulatory disorders, kidney problems and gastrointestinal disease. Chronic stomach problems and diarrhea have been noted among fishing communities on the Mahi River.

Due to soil and groundwater contamination, both crop quantity and quality has declined tremendously, contributing to poverty in the region, and forcing the local population to rely more heavily on industry for economic subsistence. Groundwater may already be severely contaminated in the area; certainly there is fear that it will entirely become so if more effective pollution control measures aren't installed.

Site visited in May, 2005. This site will now be assessed for remediation costing.