Backdrop ofGround Water

Contamination inthe Kolkata

Megacity
Prof. S. K. Das
FIE FIPHE IRSE (RETD)
e-mail: sdhr_das@yahoo.com;
sudhirdas84@gmail.com
ABSTRACT ~
The ground water of Kolkata megacity is not
considered safe for eJrinking as it is contaminated
from various sources of origin right from the
abandoned wetlands and water bodies located in
the outskirts of the city, improper maintenance of
the house hold and the municipal sewer system,
improper discharge of industrial effluents into the
nearby river / lake, unscientific disposal of solid
wastes and the haphazard underground
constructions undertaken in the city violating the
standard environmental norms. Even the water
withdrawn by pumping from the deep aquifers by
the high rise housing complex to meet the demand
of water supply of thpit occupants is found to
contain contaminants exceeding the safe level of
concentrations.
INTRODUCTION
Kolkata formerly known as Calcutta which was
located on the eastern bank of the river Hooghly
was established and developed as a city by the East
India Company owned by British from 1690
onwards. The city became the capital of British
India in 1772 and remained the capital till 1910
after which the British shifted the capital to Delhi
in the year 1911.The city was later provided
landscape by allowing horizontal expansion
towards the eastern flank surrounded by the
circular canal and the marshy land of Salt Lake
area. The eastern flank of the city was covered
mostly by wet lands which were used as outfall of
surplus water flushed with liquid sewage of the city.
The wetlands maintain the eco-friendly
environment of the city besides producing tons of
edible fresh water fish, collecting garbage to the
tune of 2500 tons generated daily in the city and
growing food grains through cultivation of paddy
fields. The multi purpose activities of the wetlands
are no doubt appreciable to the Kolkata's citizen.
But the eco-system of the wetlands and the
surrounding biodiversity need to be protected by
preserving the flora and fauna by preventing illegal
filling and unauthorized construction over the
water bodies. Unless such precautionary measures
are taken and upkeep of the wetlands with
aquaculture are maintained, chances of
contamination of ground water through leachate
action can not be ignored. Besides the bad
maintenance of household sewer/waste water lines,
the incorrect system of disposal of domestic wastes,
inadequate attentions of municipal/industrial
authorities in regard to discharge of sewage and
effluents to water bodies and the haphazard
underground construction in the city have
enhanced the ground water contamination of
Kolkata.
HIGHLIGHTS IN REGARD TO SOIL STRUC-
TURE AND HYDROLOGICAL UNDER-
GROUND MAPPING OF THE KOLKATA
MEGACITY
Kolkata's soil consists of mixture of soft clay
and silt in the upper strata bedded with sandy layer
in the lower strata. The ground water table is very
near to ground level. In monsoon the water table
reaches the ground level in some areas of the city
depending on the topography. That's why ground
water is available from shallow tube well driven in
the city. It is often seen in the city streets that the
laying of sewer/water lines at shallow depth are
carried out by timber shoring with continuous
pumping of ground water to have a dry bed after
reaching final level of excavation.
The underground of the megacity consists of
net work of dry and wet utilities running along and
across the roads and streets. Out of these wet
utilities, there are old brick sewers of British era
along with other old/new sewer lines. In addition
there are old/new water mains of various diameters
and their branches to ensure stable drinking water
supply in the city. Few raw water pipe lines
connected to river Ganges still exist in some corners
of city. The brick sewer, the old sewer lines and
raw water lines are vulnerable for ground water
contamination.
Leak Proof guarantee can not be given for
these vulnerable sewers against. arrest of
contamination of ground water either in water
bearing stratum of shallow depth or in deep
aquifers. So constant monitoring of these sewer
lines against leak of joints or pipe line itself are
needed through out the annual maintenance period.
Special emphasis need to be given during any type
of underground constructions either by realtor
groups or the transport agencies in this megacity.
In the recent past Kolkata Municipal Corporation
maneuvered the repairing and replacement of worn
parts of the brick sewer laid by British. It needs no
mention that such performance would be applauded
by the citizen of Kolkata.
Volume2013-14. Number 1 . April 2013
41
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S. K. Das
HIGHLIGHTS IN REGARD TO WATER
POLLUTION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
So long a chemical compound of two hydrogen
atoms and one oxygen atom exists in water (H2O),
its pollution does not come in question. But in
practice it seldom occurs. When sediment is
deposited in water in the form of either suspended
or-dissolved forms of particulate matters originated
from soil structures or any soluble or dispersed
chemicals originated from run offs or similar
"..
sources, the water become polluted and the
phenomenon is called water pollution. Though the
water required in industry or agriculture may not
be as pure as for drinking purpose, but the physical
and chemical purity, bacterial count etc should not
be below a certain level so as to affect the quality
of finished products.
The yard stick as to know how much the water
is polluted depends on the water quality
parameters. These are suspended solids either
inorganic (clay, silt etc) or 'organic materials
(fitters, algae, bacteria etc.); color/odor; (pH value
(whether acidic or alkali 7-8.5 for drinking water,
less than 7 is acidic and more than 7 is alkali );
presence of metals like chromium, cadmium, lead,
mercury, arsenic barium, cobalt etc should not be
in high concentrations. For example presence of
arsenic should not be more than 0.05 mg per liter
of water; dissolved oxygen (DO) (essential
parameter for re6piration of aquatic species)
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (organic
substances in waste water which are utilized a::;fo(Id
by the micro-organisms present in the waste water
for survival as well as for growth.); chemical oxygen
demand (COD) (organic matters present in the
waste water and agricultural run offs containing
pesticides not readily bio-degradable).
To meet the demand of fresh water for human
use, waste water need to be treated through
primary treatment (for removing suspended or
floating materials by screening and settling);
secondary treatment ( for removing the remaining
organics in suspension and in solution in the water
coming from the settling tank in the primary
treatment); tertiary treatment ( for removal of the
remnants after the secondary treatment which may
contain some nitrogenous and phosphorus
compounds and also some toxins.)
PROBABLE SOURCES OF GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION IN KOLKATAAND THEIR
PREVENTION
Abandoned wetlands and water bodies existing
in and around the city. The eco-system of these
wetlands has to be protected by preserving the flora
and fauna, preventing extinction of species in and
around the wetlands and maintaining aquaculture
and above all routine cleaning the water so that
any kind of sediments containing contaminants do
not deposit on the bed to percolate into the
underground water.
Leaky sewage lines around the residential
buildings of the city. The contaminants of the leaky
sewage lines will percolate directly into the
underground soil below the building and ultimately
mix with the ground water. The owners of the
buildings should take all precautions so that their
sewage and waste water lines and the joints have
no leakage; manholes and gully pits within the
premises are not choked to overflow on the surface
and pollute the underground soil and water. The
owner will bring awareness among the members of
the family about the pollution of ground water from
sewage and waste water. If any leakage is observed
by any member of family anywhere, he/she report
to the head of the family immediately, who in turn
repair/replace the pipe or ancillaries by engaging
plumbers/artisans.
Municipal and Industrial underground sewage
lines/ leading to nearest rivers, lakes or water
bodies located within the megacity. When the river
or other water bodies of the city are used as outfall
of the waste water by the municipal and the
industrial authority, the responsibility lies with the
West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) and
the environment department of the State to see
whether the respective municipal/industrial
authority are permitted to discharge their wastes
into the water bodies after proper treatment of
waste water before discharge. If so, the municipal /
industrial authorities should follow all
environmental norms and regulations to keep the
water bodies' eco-friendly and take adequate
precautions to prevent ground water contamination
from those water bodies.
Slum areas located in various corners of the
megacity which have inadequate sanitation
facilities are the sources of generation of liquid
wastes flowing into the soil and contaminating the
ground water. Municipal authorities need to take
precautionary measures to improve the sanitary
system of slums by installing urinal accessories and
paving their open ground to prevent percolation
into the soil.
Often underground construction, be it an
underground corridor, multistoried basements for
car parking of a high rise complex or laying an
underground sewer/water lines are executed in the
Kolkata .megacity. Whatever be the type of
construction the site engineer along with the
contractor must be conversant with the under-
ground mapping of the concerned arena. This is
Volume2013-14. Number 1 . April 2013
42
S. K. Das
necessary because chances of striking the
underground utilities during excavation resulting
in damage can not be ruled out. If the striking made
on the wet utilities say a sewer line, it will inundate
the whole trench bringing obstruction for further
ongoing works. The works can not be restarted
unless the sewage is pumped out and the trench
sanitized. Before the trench sanitized the sewage
contaminants percolated below the water table to
make the ground water totally polluted. So both
the site engineer and the contractor should be
conversant with the underground projects
undertaken in the megacity and try to avoid such
inundation to prevent ground water contamination.
The excavated trench may be shallow or deep
depending on the type of structure built. It is
apparent that very old or new buildings with open
foundation may come within the influence zone of
such excavated trench supported by either two
longitudinal Retaining Walls (for construction of
corridor or sewer line) or four enclosed retaining
walls (for construction of basement). During on
going excavation in between two Retains walls or
within four retaining walls the chances of
settlement of sewers/water lines of tne influenced
buildings can not be ruled out due to loss of soil
below the foundation of the building caused by the
slightest inward shift of the R-wall retaining the
earth pressure. Any settlement below the sewer or
water line will result .in failure of joints. The
contaminants of the failed sewer/ water lines will
traverse into the soil and finally mix with the
ground water to get polluted. So the site engineer
and the contractor should be very careful for such
influenced, buildings and monitor them at any
sequence of excavation so that failure of sewer /
lines can be prevented.
Last but not the least, the withdrawal of
ground water by the high rise authorities to meet
the demand of their occupants from the deep
aquifers located in the posh location of the city viz.
Park Street, Garia Hat areas can not be accepted
for safe drinking unless the contaminants
exceeding the safe level of concentrations are
removed through the process of ppmary and
secondary treatment methodology.
CONCLUSION
The public health department ofthe State and
the concerned public health non-government
organizations functioning in the megacity need to
organize workshops/seminars in different forum
especially on the World Environment Day to bring
awareness among the citizen about the ground
water contamination from the various generation
sources. The municipal and the industrial
authorities of the city should be careful in
discharging their solid/liquid wastes and the
industrial effluents so that ground water is not
contaminated and the surrounding environment
remain eco-friendly. The City Authorities should
allow the developers/contractors, who have got
expertise to do so to undertake the underground
projects in the megacity engaging the site personnel
having experience to execute safe works
underground without polluting the ground water
and the surrounding environment by their
construction activities
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