Samir Kumar Sinha | September, 2002

www.cleanganga.com has earlier carried a detailed report about the severely polluted River Damodar. But not everybody is sitting back fatalistically

	The Damodar is the primary source of drinking water for thousands

The Damodar River basin has borne the brunt of much of India's industrialisation. Besides being the hub of coal and coal-based industries, it is the lifeline of this region. Yet it is one of the most polluted rivers in the country. Millions of litres of industrial effluents and mine water discharge toxics into the waterway, every day.

This has brought about a response from young people.

Seizing the day
A handful of youths living near the Bokaro Thermal Power Plant on the banks of a tributary to the Damodar, have many reasons to voice their concern. The tributary provides water for about 1500-odd inhabitants in their village. This contaminated water leads to waterborne diseases among the users. The pollution is alarming and, the water is viscous and unfit for consumption due to fly ash reaching to the river from the effluent of the power plant.

So in 1995 the youths formed a group - Chhotanagpur Paryavaran Chetna Kendra (CPCK) - and vowed to protect the rivers from further deterioration. "In 1998 the organisation started the Damodar Bachao (Save Damodar) campaign to preserve the natural, agricultural and cultural heritage of this region," says Gulab Chand Prajapati, President of the organisation. In order to get their campaign noticed, they staged a dharna (a sit-in protest) and also took out rallies against the polluting thermal power plant.

"The problems of river Damodar are the problems of inhabitants of this area, hence everyone should know the real trouble and ways to overcome them," says K. C. Gaikwad, a social worker, educationist and advisor to CPCK. The woes of Damodar were communicated to villagers by staging street plays, organising meetings, padyatra (literally, a march) and cycle rallies.

The CPCK, in association with Abhiyan, a Ranchi-based NGO, organised Damodar Mela (festive meeting) at Phusro in Bokaro district in the state on 28th February 2002. This meeting was attended by a large number of local activists, environmentalists and journalists besides ordinary citizens. Abhiyan has commissioned a film- Damodar Ek Marti Nadi (Damodar a dying river). "Such initiatives have helped in mass mobilization and hence imposed pressure on government and industry," says Ghanshyam of Abhiyan.

"The deteriorating condition of rivers is well known to central and state pollution control boards. But to date, no hard measures have been taken against polluting industries except closure of one of the units of the Bokaro Thermal Power Station," says Duleshwar Prajapati, Organising Secretary of the Damodar Bachao campaign of CPCK.

Silent moves
For Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, the 60-year-old owner of the Swang Coal Washery, the mindless losses from coal washeries are not only a bane for the Damodar but also a waste of national resources and an economic loss.

The coal washeries located in Jharia Coalfield region consume about 70 million gallons of water and produce about 2 million tonnes of disposable solid waste in the form of coal fine every year. Suspended solids load contributed to the River Damodar by the washeries is as high as 90 tonnes per day. Most of this ends up in the river.

He estimates wastage of coal fines at Rs. 16,00,000 (US $ 33,333) every day from just three coal washeries of CCL. This translates to a loss of US $ 12 million annually. He prepared and presented a prototype for removing coal fine from the washery effluent at meetings with the CCL and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute at Ranchi, but unfortunately nothing came of it.

Bulu Imam, a noted conservationist and Regional Convenor of Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage (INTACH) Hazaribagh chapter, supports Vishwakarma. Mr. Imam wrote to Mr. Yashwant Sinha, the then union Finance Minister and also member of Parliament from Hazaribagh, demanding to activate the appropriate ministries of the Government of India.

The union ministry of environment and forests responded by sending letter no. D.O. Q6015/16/2001-CPA, dated 20th September 2001. T. R. Baalu, union minister of environment and forests, stated that the matter had been examined by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board, which had informed him that the coal washeries had installed close circuit systems and that effluent was being recycled.

Imam challenges this information. The washeries are still discharging their effluent directly into the rivers, he says. He has demanded an enquiry from a competent authority at the highest level.

Scientific support
Constant scientific feedback from independent researchers deals with the River Damodar and its tributaries. The activists often found the study, report and data from state pollution control board, misleading and unconvincing.

Researches of Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi of Ranchi and K. C. Gaikwad of Bokaro Thermal Power Plant colony and others, are revealing and informative for ordinary citizens. Interestingly, the findings of such research are well disseminated even at the grass root level. Dr. Priyadarshi's report on the presence of arsenic and lead in water and sediment in the Damodar and Safi rivers is an eye-opener for those who consume the river water directly and suffer from various diseases.

It is clear that people and movements seeking to protect the Damodar in the area are well networked and believe in co-ordinated efforts. But, the question still remains whether the government will lend an ear to these voices. Will the Damodar keep on dying with every gallon of industrial discharge streaming into it? Will the lifeline of Jharkhand be turned into a 'black desert'?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. That is, until the government moves swiftly and positively.

Samir Kumar Sinha is a Patna-based freelance journalist.