Sewage released into pond stink up entire village, but tests of samples show water fit for drinking
Kharkhara, a village in Haryana’s Rewari district, is grappling with severe water pollution issues. A village pond, a receptacle for household sewage, has become a significant concern. The contamination in the pond is degrading the quality of the groundwater, causing hand pumps and borewells to produce foul-smelling water.
The problem is not new. Prakash Yadav, a village resident, filed a petition with National Green Tribunal (NGT) in June 2023, highlighting the issue and the tribunal constituted a committee to investigate the matter.
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The entire village has been affected, said Sushila, village Sarpanch (head). “We have faced this issue before, but it is more serious now because the village population has increased, leading to higher water consumption and thus more wastewater being released,” she said.
The village’s ponds are polluted due to wastewater inflow, affecting the quality of the groundwater, stated the petition filed by Yadav. The petition disclosed that all household sewage flows into the 5-acre village pond, contaminating the groundwater, as the hand pumps and bore wells produce dirty water. The stagnant, dirty water in the pond stinks and causes diseases due to mosquitoes and flies.
NGT constituted a joint committee comprising a member secretary from Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), the Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Kharkhara and district magistrate. The tribunal ordered the committee, where the Panchayat was a nodal participant, to inspect the matter within eight weeks and suggest remedial measures if the allegations were found to be correct.
Notably, this village was included in the Aadarsh Gram Yojna by Member of Parliament Rao Indrajit Singh in 2021.
Yadav, who filed the complaint, claimed that the village’s groundwater is polluted and that everyone is aware of the problem, but no one admits it. “The tap water has high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) and a foul odour. The pond is in the heart of the village and stinks, causing mosquito and fly infestations. The villagers have no other option but to consume the dirty groundwater,” he said.
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A few years ago, the Panchayat spent approximately Rs 38 lakh to identify a pond at the end of the village and divert greywater from it. Despite this, nothing has changed; household wastewater continues to flow into the pond, alleged the petitioner. The identified pond remains empty because it is near police headquarters, and officials do not want the area to stink from incoming wastewater diverted from the village.
On NGT’s orders, state government’s public health engineering department tested groundwater samples collected from various tubewells and handpumps in the village at the state water testing laboratory in Karnal. Surprisingly, the samples met IS 10500:2012 standards, which are the Indian drinking water code. All heavy metal levels and other parameters were within acceptable limits.
However, samples of two ponds taken from the village by HSPCB contained traces of faecal coliform. The Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority (HPWWMA) stated that treating faecal coliform does not fall within its scope of work. This responsibility falls under the Rural Development Department of Haryana. HPWWMA focuses only on treating greywater through nature-based treatment systems
Greywater is the wastewater generated from kitchens, bathing, and laundry, which usually enters rural ponds. Greywater does not contain faecal coliform, one of the indicators of faecal pollution in water.
The two pond samples had faecal coliform levels ranging from 3,200 to 3,800 MPN per 100 millilitres, whereas it should be less than 500 MPN/100ml, according to Central Pollution Control Board bathing water quality norms. MPN is the most probable number used to estimate bacterial coliform colonies in water samples.
According to Yadav, the samples were not taken properly. If a private third party conducted the checks, the truth would be revealed, he asserted.
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The presence of faecal coliform confirms faecal pollution of the water. This is likely because most households in the village use septic tanks. Effluent from these septic tanks may be ending up in stormwater drains, mixing with greywater, and ending up in ponds. However, the joint committee reported no mixing of grey and black water in this case.
The village Panchayat has been in existence for only 1.5 years, said the Sarpanch Sushila. Following NGT orders, a digital survey and identification of the pond were conducted.
“Currently, we aim to beautify the 5.5-acre pond. Post-elections, the tender would be passed as the estimates are ready. The pond would be desilted, bunds would be built and we plan to develop a three-pond system under the HPWWMA Act and use the water to irrigate 25 hectares of Panchayat land,” said Sushila.
The Panchayat also plans to develop an open gym, create walking pathways and install benches for the community. “The total estimate for this project is approximately Rs 133 lakh. The tenders would be floated after the Lok Sabha elections,” she stated.
According to the Sarpanch, there is a 9.5 million litres a day sewage treatment plant (STP) on Panchayat land in Daruhera.
“We want to divert our wastewater to that STP for treatment. However, because our village is in a rural area and the STP is under urban jurisdiction, the entire matter must go through a proper approval process. Only state-level notifications can facilitate some collaborations for diverting and treating our waste. We wish we could have had an memorandum of agreement at the outset because the STP used our land,” Sushila said.
Vikas Yadav, a village resident and businessman, told a team from Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment that the entire village depends on groundwater. “All households have borewells. We are unsure how the lab samples are always within limits,” he said.
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The STP releases treated water into the dry Sahibi River, which passes near the village, the resident stated. The river has been dry for a long time due to check dams built along its route through Rajasthan.
“Our part of the river has been dry for a long time. The STP releases gallons of effluent, which it claims is treated and as a result, our groundwater levels have risen to 40 feet from 100 feet. The STP is mandated to check the groundwater samples regularly at various checkpoints. However, the groundwater samples are always within limits, which is puzzling to us,” the businessman said.
Yadav had also filed a complaint to NGT over the issue in 2018-19. He complained that untreated effluent from Daruhera and Rewari STP was discharged into the dried Sahibi river stretch passing through the village. The effluent floods the village during the rainy season and pollutes the groundwater.
“The situation remains the same despite NGT orders. The effluent is still released, and the entire area stinks regularly,” he stated.
This is the first installment of a two-part series on water and wastewater challenges in rural India.
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