Ahmedabad: Industries unearth illegal manhole discharging untreated effluents

Chemical industries in Ahmedabad recently found an illegal manhole through which untreated and polluted acidic effluent was discharged into Megaline (combined pipeline of Naroda, Odhav and Vatva industrial estates in Ahmedabad), which discharges the treated effluent into Sabarmati river near Pirana. They have filed a police complaint and informed Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) about the breach in the pipeline.

The Megaline is a unified pipeline in which carries effluents discharged by seven Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) of Naroda (1), Vatva (1), Odhav (3), Reliance Industries - Vimal (1) and Narol (1) and then finally discharges it into Sabarmati river near Pirana. They have a mechanism to check the quality of effluents at multiple locations. During a couple of checks on Saturday, they found acidic effluent at Pirana pumping station of Megaline. Since checks were conducted at Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Narol they inferred that the acid must have been discharged between Narol circle and Pirana. "We deputed a team to identify the location and source of the illegal discharge. We found that acidic effluents were discharged at a location in Narol. It was illegally connected to our Megaline manhole. We also found acidic effluent near the manhole, a hosepipe and marks of tanker tyres," said Deepak Davda, joint CEO of Megaline. Authorities of Megaline informed officials of GPCB and filed a complaint at Narol police station. Samples of the illegal line connecting the mega line have also been taken for analysis. Davda does not rule out an inside hand in the matter but said that the set response mechanism enabled them to promptly find out the breach.

Yogesh Parikh, president of Gujarat Dyestuffs Manufacturers Association (GDMA) said that such incidents can prove to be serious setbacks at a time when an industry is desperately trying to meet effluent standards as per the dictate of National Green Tribunal.

Sources said that acidic effluents can be life-threatening and harms soil and water in the vicinity.