The Hindu Business Line : Public health concerns: Confined to colas?

How safe is the potable water in most parts of the country? When certain soft drinks which, maybe, one to five per cent of the population consumes, are banned, what about the water available to the masses, say 90 per cent of the over one billion population, in this country?

Several State governments have banned sale of colas and aerated beverages following a report that these drinks contained unacceptably high levels of pesticide residues. The Kerala Government also followed suit, and cited also the fall in the underground water table in Plachimada in Palakkad district, where a bottling plant is located.

But a more vital question that arises is: How safe is the potable water in most parts of the country ? When drinks, which, maybe, one to five per cent or a little more of the population consume, are banned, what about the water available to the masses, say 90 per cent of the over one billion population, in this country?

Take, for example, drinking water quality standards in the developed world. The US drinking water standard has 85 legally enforceable parameters (primary standards), besides 15 secondary parameters, which are not legally enforceable. Municipal water supply authorities are liable to be penalised against default in all the 87 legal parameters of the drinking water. This standard is being reviewed frequently.

Whereas, India does not have any workable legally enforceable standards for drinking water. Only BIS and ICMR recommendatory standards prevail for checking the drinking water quality. If water quality analyses are compared to the US standard, hardly any water supply anywhere in India would qualify as potable.

This could be a reason why when, in 1996, a Parliament Committee recommended that water might be put under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA Act), the Government did not consider it on the observation that the Municipal authorities did not have any facilities capable of analysing and ensuring the quality stipulations.

Public health concern

Then, can the concern of public health be confined only to packaged drinks? Should it not cover allpotable water? On the other hand, does the depletion of the water table in Plachimada the only and isolated phenomenon in Kerala? In fact, it is a serious problem faced by the people in the entire State. The reasons being indiscriminate sand mining from rivers, shrinkage in natural forest cover and reclamation of wetland, ponds and paddy fields in the State, much of it for construction activity.

According to official estimates the State has 45 lakh wells as the people depend on these sources for drinking water. But, now many of these wells are without water.

Pollution of river waters in the State also adds to the crisis and that often goes unnoticed. The River Pamba is a victim of this phenomenon. According to the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, due to open defecation, discharge of raw sewage, domestic waste, commercial waste, and so on, especially during the Sabarimala pilgrim season — spread over 65 days, when an estimated 30 million devotees visit the temple — the Pamba river is subjected to very high level of water pollution.

Sabarimala season

During the Sabarimala festival season, the count of Coliform bacteria in the Pamba river water is found to be very high — up to three lakh per 100 ml. This indicates the high level of sewage pollution in the river due to the absence of sufficient sanitary facilities at Sabarimala, Pamba and en route the Sabarimala for the pilgrims as well as for the public in the nearby inhabitations.

It is imperative that the water quality of Pamba river be improved/upgraded in its entire stretch, not only for the beneficial use of water for the use of pilgrims and in the townships situated within the basin but also for improving water quality in the downstream stretches, especially in the waterlogged areas of the Kuttanadu and Vembanadu lakes. Moreover, people in the towns and downstream areas depend fully on Pamba river for all their water needs. Ironically, most of these areas do not have drinking water treatment facilities. Hence, pollution in Pamba river is affecting a large number of people, estimated at around 40 lakh. Water quality monitoring, done by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board as per the directions of the Kerala High Court, has brought to light the urgent need for an Action Plan toclean up the river.

In 1997, the Board prepared and submitted a proposal for cleaning up the river to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), for approval and funding.

Pamba Action Plan

The MoEF approved a Pamba Action Plan (PAP) and included the river in the National River Conservation Programme (NRCP) in 2001 and later accepted the Rs 319.70-crore project, submitted by the State Government on December 19, 2002 to be completed in three phases.

Subsequently, for the implementation of the first component of the project involving a total investment of Rs 18.45 crore, the NRC Directorate sanctioned its 70 per cent share of the cost Rs 12.91 crore in Jun 2003. But, real action is yet to be seen with regard to the Pamba Action Plan.

On the other hand, the wetland system in the State is also becoming extinct. The Vembanad Lake, along with the adjacent wetland over the eastern and southern sides, forms Kuttanadu, the rice-bowl of Kerala and the largest wetland system in the west coast of the country. Five rivers that originate from the Western Ghat drain into this lake. A good portion of this wetland has been converted into paddy fields, which remain water-logged for six months a year. Some areas are left fallow throughout the year. Every year, tonnes of insecticides, fungicides and chemical fertilisers reach this wetland.

Deteriorating water quality

The deterioration in water quality and the consequent damage to aquatic organisms are found to be very serious as per the studies conducted by the various scientific institutions, and the pollution level is found alarmingly high.

The shrinkage of the Vembanad lake to 37 per cent (13,224 ha) of its original area of 36,329 ha, as a result of land reclamation, has been the most important environmental consequences of various human interventions.

The water carrying capacity of the system has been reduced to an abysmal 0.6km3 from 2.4km3 (km3 = cubic kilometre).

These are important factors that need to be looked into so as to protect the environment, ecology and above all to maintain the underground water table and ensure quality potable water for the people.

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