NEW DELHI: Groundwater quality varies considerably across India, with certain states and UT such as Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya and J&K fully meeting BIS standards while states like Rajasthan, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh facing widespread contamination, shows a report recently released by ‘Jal Shakti’ ministry.
A notable concern in the report, based on quality data at 15,259 groundwater monitoring locations and focused assessment at 4,982 trend stations across the country in 2023, is the “elevated levels of uranium in several regions”. Rajasthan and Punjab are shown as regional hotspots of uranium contamination.
The samples with high uranium concentrations were clustered in areas identified as ‘over-exploited’, ‘critical’, and ‘semi-critical’ groundwater stress zones, such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The report also reflects significant concerns over the quality of water due to high concentrations of nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, and iron in groundwater. Almost 20% of the samples exceeded the permissible limit for nitrate while 9% of samples had fluoride levels above the acceptable limit. Arsenic contamination was found in 3.5% of samples.
“This is particularly worrying because long-term exposure to both contaminants (fluoride and arsenic) can have severe health consequences, including fluorosis (for fluoride) and cancer or skin lesions (for arsenic),” said the report.
Fluoride concentration exceeding the permissible limit is a major concern in Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “Although the monsoon season led to some improvement in fluoride levels in these states, the overall contamination levels remain alarmingly high,” said the report.
Rajasthan, TN and Maharashtra have some of the highest incidences of nitrate contamination, with over 40% of water samples exceeding the permissible limit. The report attributed it primarily to agricultural run-off and overuse of fertilizers.
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