Workshop discusses on health impacts of wastewater irrigation

Workshop discusses on health impacts of wastewater irrigation

By Dr. Abhay Kumar
Published in toxicslink.org, 07/05/2007

Delegates discussed on the heavy metal contamination in food due to irrigation water getting contaminated with industrial wastewater in a workshop titled "Citizen's forum to discuss the health threats from wastewater irrigation in Varanasi" held on April 3, 2007 at Indian Medical Association (IMA) Hall in Varanasi.

The workshop was organised by Toxics Link in partnerships with IMA, Varanasi branch and FRIENDS, an NGO working in Varanasi. It was a part of the ongoing project "Contaminated irrigation water and food safety for the urban and periurban poor: Appropriate measures for monitoring and control from field research in India and Zambia"which Toxics Link is conducting along with University of Sussex, Benaras Hindu University and Delhi University. The workshop was well attended with more than sixty participants representing government, medical fraternity, academia, civil society, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Rotary Club and others expressing their outrage on the whole range of issues brought forth by this project.

The workshop began with a brief welcome note from the President, IMA, Varanasi branch, followed by a brief overview of the project activities by Ganesh Pangare. Dr. Madhoolika Agarwal of Benaras Hindu University (BHU) shared the lab findings of food contamination from wastewater irrigation including the source-contamination map and Dr. Abhay Kumar of Toxics Link shared the outcomes of health survey with focus on heavy metal impacts.

Dr. Rana Gopal Singh presented on various impacts of heavy metals on health with a focus on kidney functioning. He also dwelt on how Indian traditional medicinal system uses some heavy metals impacts thereof.

The presentations evoked sharp responses from participants. The debate started with one of the participants pointing that inaccessibility of safe drinking water is a greater concern than the wastewater irrigation and its various implications. At this point, organisers intervened and said that while drinking water is an important concern, there is no point in pitting one against the other.

One of the doctors present in the workshop lamented the fact that water, whether drinking water or wastewater, is among the least priority areas for political parties. It is a sorry state of affairs that even now there is no law or policy on groundwater and drinking water and it is a mere point of academic discussion. He also said that lack of coordination between various organisations and sectors is most appalling.

A professor from BHU then added that the need for political approaches is fine but that cannot replace individual's contributions and doctors would have a major role to play in this regard. He also emphasised on the need for judicial interventions. President of IMA then remarked that teamwork is required and clinical study should be done to gather more evidence to which the doctors were also in agreement.

Vinod Maurya, head of Dinapur Panchayat gave a passionate speech on the problems that the community is facing today due to the sewage treatment plant (STP) in Dinapur. He said that the plant was supposed to be situated 5 kms. away from the village but it was constructed right in the middle of village. He added that there is a running instruction from the District Magistrate that STP officials would meet with village representatives every two months on the problems that they are facing and would take possible remedial actions but such meeting never happened.

A representative from UP Jal Nigam then countered him saying that their plant is meant to treat only domestic and municipal sewage and if industrial waste is mixed with it then much cannot be done and other government departments and agencies must look into it.

It was agreed by all the participants present in the workshop to hold a meeting in Dinapur after two months to further highlight the problem and make ways for a sustainable solution.

Dr. Chitravansh of Prayas Foundation was of the opinion that execution of the plan is the main shortcoming of any policy implementation. Shakti of Shambunath Research Foundation felt that lack of clarity on how to take the study findings to next stage was most conspicuous in the discussions and urged all to come prepared in the next meeting.

The CMO, Varanasi felt that the issues raised in the workshop were pertinent. He added that safe drinking water is an important issue and linked to it is the issue of reuse of wastewater. For this it is extremely important that domestic wastewater is separated from industrial wastewater at source itself. The IMA President also spoke in similar vein.

Dr. Sanjay Rai, Secretary, IMA ended the workshop with a vote of thanks to all the participants.