And unquiet flows the Manjira…

toxic TORRENTS

Sangareddy: Unfortunate but it is true, water bodies in Medak district are getting grimier and more contaminated by each passing day, thanks to the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned. The worst hit is the much-liked Manjira, with its tributaries and minor irrigation tanks which ultimately join the river carrying deadly chemicals and other industrial waste, threatening the very existence of the lifeline of the district.

A visit to Gowdicherla, a village on the banks of the Manjira, reveals the devastating effect of Nakkavagu, a stream flowing through industrial areas joining the Manjira. The place of confluence lies downstream of the Manjira barrage. Even though there has been no inflow into the Manjira barrage yet, in Gowdicherla there is water available a mixture of industrial and domestic waste coming from Jinnaram, Patancheru and Sangareddy mandals which is being used to irrigate sugarcane, paddy, cotton and jowar in 400 acres in the village.

“Everybody knows the water is badly contaminated. Many took samples of the water for testing but nothing happened. The so-called activists protest, factories are shut down for an hour or so and then strangely the issue goes into oblivion,” said Maisagalla Mallaiah, a senior citizen from the village, who has seen crystal clear pure drinking water turning into a shallow river bed of chemical waste over four decades.

The root-cause of the problem lies in Kazipally industrial area in Jinnaram mandal, where Jillela Vagu (a local stream) has become focal point for channelizing toxic chemical waste into other water bodies which are all inter-connected, ensuring the flow finally reaches the Manjira. Kazipally industrial area predominantly consists of bulk drug and chemical manufacturing companies, which dump all their wastes directly into the stream. Three years ago, the companies also built canals to make it easy for the waste to flow uninterrupted.

Gaddapotharam, a village in the area, has an irrigation tank which has an ayacut of hundreds of acres. The tank is full right now, but the effluents coming from factories located a stone’s throw away have rendered the water unfit for growing crops, leaving a large extent of land uncultivated. There are canals dug from the periphery of these factories and pipelines are laid to release wastes directly into the tank whenever it rains.

Hymavathi, a villager who was watching over her buffaloes taking a dip in the contaminated water said, “There is not a single day we can work without taking medicines for headache and body pains”. A visit to the Kacheruvu known in the area as ‘chemical cheruvu’ explains how insensitive men has turned a beautiful water body surrounded by lovely hills into a valley of toxin.

Due to deficient rains, the water body is mostly dry, revealing a red tank bed. Walking on the tank bed is like stepping on a quicksand of black toxic chemical silt deposited through decades of abuse of the tank. Jillela vagu is not the only stream of industrial waste joining Nakkavagu. Other industrial areas like Pashamylaram and IDA Bollaram route their wastes into Nakkavagu.

By Vivek Bhoomi