Business Times: Navi Mumbai: Sunday, August 13, 2017.
Stray dogs in
Navi Mumbai could be turning blue as a result of untreated industrial waste
being released into the Kasadi River. Stray dogs usually trudge into the river
in search of food resulting in their fur getting dyed in a bright shade of blue
due to the waste present in the river.
The Navi
Mumbai Municipal Corporation tested the quality of water in the river and found
that the treatment of waste was inadequate, Hindustan Times reported. The
levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) was 80 milligram a litre (mg/L) while
the chloride levels were also found to be high.
BOD is the
concentration of oxygen that is required to sustain aquatic life. Fish die if
BOD levels are above 6 mg/L while levels above 3 mg/L make it unfit for human
consumption, according to the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control
Board. Chloride is toxic and harms vegetation, aquatic life and wildlife. The
polluted river water can also affect human health.
The
Taloja industrial area in Navi Mumbai has 977 pharmaceutical, food and
engineering factories according to data obtained by NGO Watchdog Foundation
through right to information (RTI). The untreated industrial waste being
released into the river had raised its pollution levels up to 13 times the safe
limit, HT reported.
"After
numerous complaints to MPCB over the years, only the stench at Kasadi has
reduced. However, the pollution levels continue to be extremely high and
dissolved oxygen is negligible," Yogesh Pagade, a member of a local
fishing community that conducted the study in 2016, said.
The Navi
Mumbai Animal Protection Cell on Wednesday took photographs of a dog whose fur
had turned blue. The group then filed a complaint with the Maharashtra
Pollution Control Board (MPCB) the next day. In their complaint, the group said
that the animals in the industrial area were suffering because untreated waste
was being directly pumped out into the river.
"It was
shocking to see how the dog's white fur had turned completely blue. We have spotted
almost five such dogs here and have asked the pollution control board to act
against such industries," Arati Chauhan, a resident of Navi Mumbai, who
runs the animal protection cell, told the daily.
Chauhan
added: "We have only spotted blue dogs so far. We do not know if birds,
reptiles and other creatures are affected or if they have even died owing to
the dye discharged into the air."
Taking
cognisance of the complaint, MPCB Regional Officer, Navi Mumbai, Anil Mohekar,
said: "Allowing the discharge of dye into any water body is illegal. We
will take action against the polluters as they are destroying the environment. We
have directed our sub-regional officer to investigate."
Officials
from the MPCB surveyed the area on Friday and said that a private company has
been using blue dye for several purposes.
"The
area is already cordoned off to the public and is in close proximity of the
private company. However, five to six dogs entered the site looking for food
and got the blue colour on them. We have warned the company owners to ensure no
animals can enter again and such an incident should not be repeated," said
Jayavant Hajare, sub-regional officer, MPCB Navi Mumbai.
Hajare added
that the company has been told to remove the dye that is being pumped into the
river within seven days. "If it is not removed then we will issue a
notice," he said.
Waste from
347 small and medium-scale industries are treated at a Common Effluent
Treatment Plant. The waste mostly consists of chemical, pharmaceutical and food
processing waste. The industries in Taloja employ about 76,000 people with an
annual turnover of Rs 60,000 crore.