No toxic chemicals in Kharicut canal silt, reveals lab test: AMC

According to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials, laboratory testing of silt from Kharicut canal, which the civic body has been cleaning for some time, has revealed good quality of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) in the soil.

"More than 53,000 tonnes of silt has been removed from the Kharicut canal since May 1. We took a sample of the silt for laboratory testing and the result is amazing," said JS Prajapati, deputy municipal commissioner, AMC.

"Result from the agriculture laboratory says it has good NPK value. And it states that the hazardous chemicals level in it is less than the permissible limit," he added.

However, despite the clean chit, the soil can't be used anywhere without screening.

"There's so much plastic mixed in it, it's difficult to screen. We are contemplating removing the plastic manually and using it in our upcoming gardens to lay a layer of soil on the surface," explained Prajapati.

Environmentalists do not agree with the claims of the AMC. "It is a way to save money. By saying it has no harmful chemicals, they can dump it anywhere. Otherwise they would have to take this to the TSDF plant and follow scientific methods to discard of the waste – which is very costly," said Mahesh Pandya, environmentalist.

"It is known that industries had released untreated chemical effluents in the canal. The canal has not had water for long and it is impossible that it does not have chemical residues," added Pandya.