Damodar,’ considered as ‘Sorrow of Bengal’ due to its devastating floods, has now become the sorrow of both Jharkhand and Bengal owing to excessive pollution.
Today it is one of the most polluted rivers of the country. The river rises from the Khamar Pat in Palamau district of Jharkhand and takes a 563 km long course before meeting Hugli River in West Bengal. It has two main tributaries of Konar and Barakar with a total basin area of 5.7 million hectares. The main river and its tributaries have been dammed by the DVC to control floods and generate electricity. The river catchment area is famous for coal mining and has witnessed unprecedented industrial growth during post-independence era.
The enormous quantity of pollutants coming out from the mines, industries, cities and agricultural fields have so much degraded the quality of the river water between Giridih and Durgapur that it has virtually become biological desert. Today, many stretches of the Damodar and its tributaries resemble large drains carrying black, highly turbid water.
The total suspended solids (TSS) count at most places along the upper and middle stretches of the river is 40-50 times higher than the permissible limit (R.K. Tiwary et al. 1995). The crux of the problem is extensive mining in the region. Mine rejects, minerals and toxic effluents are regularly thrown into the river and its tributaries.
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There are 50 large and 100
medium and small scale industries located in the mid-stretch of the river which daily release 6,000 million liters of industrial waste water to the river. Conservative estimates put the daily outfall of pollutants and effluents at 60 tons of biochemical oxygen demand load (BOD load), 2 tons of non- metallic toxins and 1.2 tons of toxic metallic substances per day. Fifteen coal wateriest account for bulk of pollution in terms of TSS, oil and grease through direct slurry.
Flyash along with silt, suspended solids, oil and grease adversely affect aquatic life of the river. Seven power plants (3 from DVC) are the main culprit. The Bokaro and Chandrapura thermal plants discharge 600 mid and 1,160 mid of effluents respectively (Arun Jhingran, 1990). Most of the industries of the region discharge their effluents into the river without proper treatment. The river is so polluted by discharges of toxic chemical effluents from iron and steel plants, chemical and fertiliser plants, distilleries and paper mills that normal water treatment processes have become ineffective.
Increasing use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the agriculture is also brought to the river through surface runoff. The problem of pollution becomes alarming due to the apathy of the authorities and the people are forced to use the river water downstream for drinking purposes and irrigation in small towns and villages.