The Asian Age, Kolkata 25-8-03

Editorial

Poisoned Water

The recent controversy regarding certain popular brands of soft drinks has focussed attention on the highly polluted quality of ground water available in India . Reports showing high levels of cadmium in ground water are available, but since the political will required to tackle the problem is almost completely absent, few state governments have taken steps to restore the quality of ground water. Whilst soft drinks and mineral water are usually consumed by the urban middle classes, more than sixty percent of Indians rely on ground water for daily consumption.

Several months ago, an official study had identified the various agricultural and industrial pollutants that are chiefly responsible for making much of the ground water that the ordinary people use unfit for human consumption. Academic studies have revealed that the water beneath our feet is not only susceptible to pollution, it also stores pollutants for much longer than either rivers or other sources. In an economy so heavily agriculture oriented, the farm sector is the single largest consumer of ground water.

India 's per acre use of feritlisers is almost 60% higher than that of the United States . High nitrate levels lead to what is in technical jargon called the 'blue baby syndrome'. Ironically, while the Green Revolution has so favourably impacted agricultural productivity and ensured high yield varieties, states such as Punjab and Haryana, both major beneficiaries of the Green Revolution, have wells in which nitrate levels are significantly higher than less privileged states. Leakage from sewerage systems are common in most urban states. Increased use of pesticides became the norm after the Green Revolution was introduced in some key states.

While Americans and several countries of the European Union have been aware enough to set maximum permissible limits for pesticides in various foods available in the market, the existing levels of understanding in the country is too shallow for any sustained anti-pesticide movement to gather momentum. While the Centre for Science and Environment has done excellent work in parts of the country regarding the harmful quality of ground water, its zeal has not been matched to the extent desired.

The CSE a few months ago, reported high levels of DDT in ground water. It has also drawn public attention to several pesticides which continue to be used in India even when banned in the countries of their origin. Unless ground water contamination is tackled on an emergency footing, the battle against purportedly harmful soft drinks will remain purely symbolic in character. The laws governing toxic chemicals are unusually liberal and generous. That 'helps' in slowly poisoning each and every citizen using groundwater.

While Mrs. Sushma Swaraj sought to present an attitude of earnestness while offering the Joint Parliamentary Committee [JPC] option to look into the quality of soft drinks, she has in actual fact negated the fundamental problem: as long as the quality of ground water will remain suspect, the country will end up fighting only the symptoms.