EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION ON GROUNDWATER AND RELATED HEALTH ISSUES IN BHAGWANPUR, DISTRICT HARIDWAR, UTTARAKHAND

Abstract

Rapid industrialisation and increasing population has resulted in increasing demands and over-exploitation of natural resources. Groundwater is one such natural resource. Much of urban and rural population in India depends on groundwater for drinking purposes. Moreover, as it is an easily exploitable resource, it is widely used for irrigation and industrial purposes. The present thesis is an attempt to study the groundwater quality, abstracted through handpuinps and tubewells which is used for dim/aug purposes in heavy industrialised area of Bhagwanpur and nearby villages. To access the impact of industrial pollution on groundwater quality, which is being used for drinking, physio-chemical characterisation was done on different groundwater samples collected from handpumps and tubewells. To be sure of the results, the sampling was done twice. It is concluded that Bhagwanpur town, Nanheda and Iqbalpur are the worst affected places due to industrial groundwater contamination. The physical and chemical parameters of the samples collected from Tubewells, which are generally deeper than handpumps, were also found above the maximum permissible limits. Therefore, the shallow handpumps must be abandoned as they are discharging the water which is unfit for human consumption. Tubewells must be deepened for better water quality.