Activists have alleged that the Jindal power plant is responsible for the contaminated water in the village wells; lab reports confirm that the water is unfit for drinking
Activists have alleged that the Jindal power plant is responsible for the contaminated water in the village wells; lab reports confirm that the water is unfit for drinking
Within two months of commencement of the Jindal power project, villagers of Jaigad, in Ratnagiri, which is situated about 50 km away from the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant, have been forced to abandon the wells they have been using ever since they can remember. The reason behind this step is that the water obtained from these wells has been declared unfit for drinking by the district's health officials.u00a0 The members of the panchayat have even pasted posters warning the villagers. 
Unsafe: The contaminated water in the village well in Jaigad. Pic/Atul Kamble
Jindal's coal based power project in Jaigad became fully functional on October 2010. The project, which started with a mere 300 MW of output, wreaked such havoc in the water reserves of the area that by December, about 5,000 villagers started complaining that they could not approach the wells owing to the putrid stench emanating from them. Drinking the water was out of the question.
Testing time
Samples of the water were sent for testing to the District Public Health Laboratory. The results unambiguously disclosed that the water was unfit for drinking purposes. The gram panchayat, in a bid to create awareness about the dangers, diligently pasted posters on the well walls cautioning the villagers from consuming the water. The villagers claim that all the six wells in the village have been declared unsafe.
Experts are murmuring that the power plant is to be blamed for the contamination of the water spanning the area. They claim that various harmful insoluble materials ejected from the plant had seeped into the ground water system.
Villagers speak
Dipika Bargude's house is situated barely 10 steps away from the village well, and she has been sustaining herself on the water all her life. But now, she has had to resort to collecting water from the company's tanker every morning. "Everything was fine before the project went underway. One day we saw the water level in the well rising.
Initially we were all overjoyed. But soon such a stench began emanating from the well, that we were compelled to walk long distances to obtain water from others sources. Now a tanker from a company provides us water every morning," she said. She added that the water provided by the tanker was rather insufficient for the various household chores, such as washing, cooking and cleaning. "There is a major water crisis in the area. We have had to reorganise our daily routine due to this crunch. We have to get up early and line up for the tanker. Things were so much better before the company was set up."
Indira Chougle (80) has consumed the water from her village well all her life, but now she has to fill cans and plastic bottles with water that she gets each morning from the company. "I never thought a power project would disrupt my life to this extent. Now I am dependent on the company for something as basic as drinking water. We do not have sufficient water for farming, and this will eventually have negative repercussions on agriculture in the area. We are not sure if our future generations will be able to sustain themselves in this area without water," she said.
Activist speaks
Dr Vivek Bhide, an activist in the area, is convinced that the Jindal power plant is to be held responsible for the contamination of water. "There are many leakages in the plant; Sea water is used to cool the coal beds; once this is done, the insoluble materials from the beds often seep into the ground, and mix with the underground streams. This is the source of water contamination in the area," he said.
Fearing the worst
Bhide also said that considering an electrical power plant generating a mere 600 MW is causing this much disruption, the consequences could be far grave if the proposed nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, which will generate as much as 9,900 MW, were constructed.
The Other Side
Pradeep Manur, Assistant General Manager of the environment department at the Jindal power plant, said, "It is true that water in two of the wells in the village has turned saline. We have roped in a company, which is recognised by the ministry of Environment and Forests, to carry out investigations. Till the investigations are completed, we will be providing the villagers with drinking water." A senior officer from the company's head office in Delhi said, "We have been investigating the matter. If it is discovered that the power plant is responsible for the problems faced by the villagers, then we will try to find a suitable solution as soon as possible. We are seeing to it that no villager is affected because of the project."
lab findings
According to the report issued by the District Public Health Laboratory in Ratnagiri, the water was declared unfit for drinking because of low ph levels and high chloride levels, both of which render the water harmful for human consumption. MiD DAY checked with Mickey Kapadia, a chemist at Lab Inspection, which is a private water-testing agency. He confirmed that the levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water had gone beyond permissible limits. "The general acceptable limit for TDS is 500 mg/l, whereas the report suggests that the water in the wells have an alarming TDS count of 1440 mg/l. TDS measures the level of invisible particles in the water. Though absent to the human eye, these particles can have harmful effects on the kidney, liver and intestine, especially if the ph level in the water dips below 6.5-7.5," he said.
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