Industry wastes contaminate drinking water in Udham Singh Nagar

Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), June 23 (ANI): The contamination of drinking water has become a major cause of worry for the residents here, as the discharge of effluents from the paper and pulp mills and untreated chemical waste gets mixed with ground water.

Regional pollution officer, S. S Rana, said that the mills released polluted water and chemical waste, which posed a serious threat to the health of the human beings.

"Although the mill owners follow the guidelines of the Pollution Control Board, but the water discharged from the mill is coloured and the odour of the effluents from the mills is bad. We have received complaints of this polluted water flowing into the fields and we have inspected the areas. We have not found any such thing," Rana said.

He added that the installation of a conduit pipe would resolve the issue.

"They (the Pollution Control Board) have submitted a proposal to the administration that this water will be transferred to a distant lake through conduit pipe. The issue will be resolved after the installation of the pipe," he informed.

The residents complained of choking sensation and pungent smell.

"We cannot sleep properly as the water flowing out from the mill smells very bad. It also leads to air pollution. The smoke from the factory is resulting in the melting of iron and rusting of iron utensils. We have to change the transformers due to rusting. The animals will not survive if they drink water from the river," Harish Kandpal, a local, said. (ANI)