The Amlakhadi River is a tributary of the Narmada River. The Bharuch Enviro Aqua Infrastructure Ltd. (BEAIL) collects waste from three Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) industrial estates: Ankleshwar GIDC, Jhagadia GIDC and Panoli GIDC and discharges it into the Amlakhadi, which flows for about ten kilometers before converging with the Narmada.

M/s.Orichem Ltd. is located at the Balanda village near Talcher and in the district of Angul, Orissa. At Talchar, there is an abandoned hazardous waste dumpsite associated with M/s Orichem Limited (OCL). M/s OCL was engaged in the production of chrome salts such as sodium dichromate and basic chrome sulfate. The unit was operational since 1983 with an installed production capacity of 3300 TPA. It was closed down in 1998.

Aruputo lies to the east of Kolkata near Science City. There are around 40 large unlicensed facilities processing leather trimmings. The scrap leather trimmings, which appear blue from chromium tanning, are processed into fertilizer by boiling them in large pots; and the water is then dumped into local water bodies. The resulting black pieces are left to dry in the open after which they are bagged and sold as fertilizer to the tea estates in the northern districts.

Bhopal used to be referred to as the "City of Lakes", famous for two tranquil waterways which run through the center of town. However, ever since the unprecedented human catastrophe of twenty years ago, the city of 1.4 million has become a global symbol of the dangers of industrial development.

Bichadi is a small town located roughly fifteen kilometers east of Udaipur of the Rajasthan region, India. This site, which was a small industrial estate (791 acres) manufacturing dyes and dye intermediaries, was ordered closed by the government in 1990, though manufacturing appears to have continued in some plants till 1995. It remains a significantly polluted place due to inadequate remediation post-closure. Indiscriminate surface dumping of sludge, along with irrigation with contaminated groundwater since 1989-90, has contributed to devastating soil contamination.

According to the Center for Science and Environment, the groundwater of Bichadi is dark red. Over seventy wells have been rendered unfit for consumption, and around twenty two villages are without local drinking water. Some of the villages’ water needs are met by trucking in potable water, however the trucks deliver only about 10% of the villages’ needs, they can be unreliable, and the current system reduces local autonomy. Additionally, the contaminated water has since negatively affected agriculture through crop failure and permanent loss of fertility to soil.

Bicchadi is a small town located roughly fifteen kilometers east of Udaipur of the Rajasthan region, India. This site, which was a small industrial estate (791 acres) manufacturing dyes and dye intermediaries, was ordered closed by the government in 1990, though manufacturing appears to have continued in some plants till 1995. It remains a significantly polluted place due to inadequate remediation post-closure. Indiscriminate surface dumping of sludge, along with irrigation with contaminated groundwater since 1989-90, has contributed to devastating soil contamination.

According to the Center for Science and Environment, the groundwater of Bicchadi is dark red. Over seventy wells have been rendered unfit for consumption, and around twenty two villages are without local drinking water. Some of the villages’ water needs are met by trucking in potable water, however the trucks deliver only about 10% of the villages’ needs, they can be unreliable, and the current system reduces local autonomy. Additionally, the contaminated water has since negatively affected agriculture through crop failure and permanent loss of fertility to soil.

Lindane is banned and severely restricted in over 50 countries but is still produced in India, China, Romania and possibly Russia. This toxic insecticide is ranked among the top chemicals of concern by the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Lindane production is an exceptionally dirty process, creating 9-12 tons of waste for every ton of lindane produced.

India has a total lindane production capacity of 1,300 tons per year, with two companies producing: Kanoria Chemicals and Industries Ltd (KCIL) with a capacity of 1,000 tons per annum (tpa), and India Pesticides Limited (IPL) with 300 tpa capacity.

The region is flat, and liquid waste can be seen dumped in shallow lagoons near the villages. Villagers will not use certain tubewells, because of their chemical odor and known illness response. The State Pollution Control Board has tested the water for pH, hardness, conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids and chlorine but has not tested for any chemicals, their by-products or heavy metals. However IIT-Roorkee’s study found significant amounts of lead, aluminium, nickel and even cyanide in the water sources in the vicinity of the DCM group of factories at Daurala. Blacksmith had funded the Janhit Foundation to carry out investigative studies in the area in 2004-2005.

Eloor is an island situated on the banks of the Periyar river. The largest industrial belt in Kerala is located at Eloor, with more than 247 chemical industries that discharge 17,35,00,000 liters of highly polluted effluents per day into the river.

The golden corridor in Gujarat extends from Vapi in the south to Ahmedabad in the north. There are over 50 industrial estates in this region, most house over a thousand industries (some being chemical estates) and many are spread over a thousand acres.

Hema Dyechem Private Limited, formerly Hema Chemicals, operated a chromium sulfate manufacturing unit in the Gorwa Industrial Estate of Vadodara (a city about 115 kilometers south of Ahmedabad) from 1965 until 2001. Despite the enactment of the Hazardous Waste Rules in 1989, the company disposed of approximately 77,000 tons (estimated by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board) of toxic chromium waste in areas neighboring the unit. The laborers working in the factory were unaware of potential health risks, and used the chromium-rich sludge to fill up low-lying ditches in the neighborhood. They also mixed the sludge with cement to construct their houses and spread it around the boundaries of surrounding fields.

The abandoned plant site itself covers about 15,000 square feet and is highly contaminated with chromate salts. Yellow discoloration, a sign of chromate contamination, is obvious throughout the site and on building structures. This site clearly is in need of remediation.

The illegal dumping areas may cover as much as seven kilometers of filled trenches along roads in the vicinity of the factory. A study of this region is being conducted under the direction of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) by the Delhi-based National Productivity Council.

Hema’s illegal dumping at this site has spurred the largest public interest litigation in Indian history. GPCB has sued the industry for Rs. 17 crores. The case is currently under appeal in the Supreme Court.

Howrah foundry cluster is one of the oldest and largest cast iron foundry centers in the country, accounting for around 20% of the total castings produced in the country. A number of these units were closed down by the State Pollution Control Board. Though the industry is trying to clean up its own act by sponsoring research into cleaner technologies, 80% are small-scale operations and may find it difficult to do so without outside assistance, both technical and financial.

Kanpur is the ninth-largest city in India, and one of its most severely polluted. Its eastern districts feature about 350 industrial leather tanneries, many of which discharge untreated waste into local groundwater sources and the Ganges River. These pollutants include toxic levels of metal contaminants such as chromium, mercury, and arsenic. Chromium is the most worrisome of these: popular in the tanning industry because it makes leather goods stronger, its waste form--hexavalent chromium or Cr VI--is known to cause lung cancer, liver failure, kidney damage, and premature dementia. Noraiakheda, a settlement of 30,000 people within Kanpur, has developed right on top of a plume of Cr VI emitted by toxic sludge from an old chemical plant that had supported the tanneries. The sludge is a source of pollution and a danger to human health. Flammable methane trapped inside the sludge catches fire during the hot summer months, releasing harmful toxins into the air. Summer heat and winds also distribute dust particles from the sludge containing Cr VI and other toxins that are harmful when inhaled. Chromium from the sludge leaks into the river, subsoil, and groundwater - the primary source of drinking water for the surrounding community. A 1997 study conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board on the groundwater quality in Kanpur revealed Cr VI levels of 6.2 mg/L; the Indian government places the limit at .05 mg/L.

According to the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee that visited the area, approx. 1,747 tons of hazardous sludge has accumulated at the Mahad Industrial Estate CETP. The Committee had directed Mahad CETP Association to replace pipelines carrying effluents from the industries but the work is progressing very slowly. There are also reports of hazardous wastes being dumped illegally in the premises of legacy industries like Raksha Chemicals Ltd. and Shree Mahesh Chemicals. The industrial premise of Shri Mahesh Chemicals Ltd. houses an abandoned H-acid plant and iron & gypsum sludge. At the Raksha Chemicals premises, in addition to hazardous waste abandoned from its operations, more toxic waste (probably spent caustic) from a factory in Karnataka has been dumped.

Sludge and sediments in the Mini River, which floods during the monsoon season, is highly contaminated with legacy heavy metals and other waste. The Mini River flows into the Mahi River, the second largest river in the state, directly upstream of the intake of water supply for the city of Baroda.

Throughout the Nandesari Industrial Estate, there are estimated to be 10-15 illegally hazardous waste dumpsites, most in residential squatter areas. It is clear that some chemical facilities within the estate avoid dumping at the hazardous waste disposal facility to avoid the Rs.450 dump fee. A review of several illegal dumpsites proved the difficulty of finding the primary source of the waste itself. Thus, responsibility for cleanup is likely to fall on the state and on the community.

Muthia lies on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad City. This village land has been acquired by the Naroda Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC). Approximately 60,000 tons of sludge from effluent treatment plants and other untreated waste have been dumped along the boundary between the industrial estate and the village over the last decade.

The legacy waste dumps at Muthia Village have been lying neglected for a decade with no cleanup activity. These hazardous wastes have leached into the groundwater, which has turned yellow and red. Monsoon rains wash and spread the contaminated sludge over wide areas.

The village of Nandesari (population 7,259) lies on the banks of the Mini River, a stone's throw from the city of Vadodara. Nandesari is in the middle of Gujarat's "Golden Corridor", a 400km belt of industrial estates that has helped make the state one of the most industrialized in the nation. Despite this, about two-thirds of the state's population still subsists on agriculture, tending crops like wheat, millet, and rice.

Pali is an important textile center in Rajasthan and has been identified as one of the most polluted cities in the country. There are around 989 dyeing and printing units, most of which directly discharge their untreated effluents into the River Bandi. The river, which is mostly dry, is extremely polluted. In a 2004 survey of pollution in Pali, the Central Groundwater Board found that pollution had seeped into the groundwater and contaminated wells in the region.

Coal is India’s most abundant resource, and it will continue to play a pivotal role in the country over the upcoming decades. There currently exist in India 82 coal-fired power plants, each of which uses around 1,000 tons of coal and produces about 13.34 tons of fly ash. Fly ash is, alone, a waste product and its responsible disposal poses a huge problem. From each power station, thousands of tons of fly ash are pumped into the ash ponds in the form of slurry (fly ash mixed with water) every day; these lagoons occupy millions of acres of agricultural land all over India.

When coal is burned in a plant, two types of ash are produced: fly ash and bottom ash. Fly ash, otherwise known as pulverized fuel ash, is the residue of coal combustion and is comprised of very fine, powerdy glass-like particles. Because it is so fine, it is highly susceptible to wind erosion; its light color – grayish white – reflects more light than dirt, raising surface temperature. Bottom ash refers to the non-combustible materials in coal, and is heavy and coarse. A mixture of both types of ash is called pond ash.

In the past, fly ash produced by thermal power plants, cement industries, railway track, etc. was simply taken up by flue gases and released into the atmosphere, creating significant environmental concerns. Studies have shown that fly ash dumping would continue to cause groundwater contamination, surface water contamination during flooding, and air pollution relative to dust emission via wind erosion if preventative measures were not taken.

Oswal Chemical and Fertilizer Ltd (OCFL) was set up in 1999 just five kilometers from the deep-sea harbor in the port town of Paradeep in Orissa. OCFL is a Rs 2,000-crore fertilizer plant, producing 2 million tons of Di Ammonia Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer per annum, 7,000 TPD of sulfuric acid and 2,650 TPD of Phosphoric acid – one of the largest producers in India.

Since production began in April 1999, OCFL has faced a host of complaints and agitation from local people over water and air pollution. It has a pollution lawsuit pending against it in the Orissa High Court. There were allegations of leakages of ammonia from the industry on May 24, 2000, November 11, 2000 and September 22, 2003. The industry was inspected several times by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board who observed that the unit was not complying with the environmental stipulations and discharging untreated wastewater to the nearby creek and the Mahanadi.

Parwanoo has rapidly developed into a pulsating industrial town within the last few years. Industrial units in the area directly discharge their untreated effluents into the Kaushalya River, which is a primary drinking water resource. Toxic fumes emitted by industries is also a growing problem.

Tiljala lies in eastern Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. About 34 small-scale secondary lead smelters operate here. They are located in close proximity to dense residential areas and open water bodies, thus endangering residents with lead exposure from smelter emissions and dust.

The Narol Industrial area in Gujarat hosts a mix of textile & textile printing (cotton & polyester) industries. Each industry has its own treatment plant from where the wastewater is discharged to the sewage treatment plant. The processed effluent is then dumped into the Sabarmati River which flows for 48 kilometers before reaching the sea. There is no significant intake along this river stretch for potable water.

The Coca-Cola bottling plant at Plachimada is located along the Palakkad-Meenakshipuram-Pollchi road, around three kilometers to the north of the Meenkara dam reservoir and a few hundred meters west of the Kambalathara and Vengalakkayam storage reservoirs.

The bottling plant started production in 1998 on a 42- acre plot in violation of the Kerala Land Utilisation Act, 1967, intended to prevent the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Limited (HCBL) has faced a host of complaints and agitation from local people over water and soil pollution. The issue has been raised in the media with a focus on depletion of water and its contamination. Test results of the well water and the sludge have proved the presence of contamination.

Ranipet is a medium-sized community located about 100 miles from Chennai, the fourth largest urban area in India. A factory in Ranipet manufactures sodium chromate, chromium salts and Basic Chromium Sulfate Tanning Powder used locally in the leather tanning process. The raw materials used in the process include chromate ore, limestone soda ash, sulfuric acid and soldium chlorate.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) estimates that about 150,000 tons of solid wastes accumulated over two decades of plant operation are stacked in an open yard (three to five meters high and on 2 hectares of land) on the facility premises.

Ratlam is an important industrial town in Madhya Pradesh with distillery, dye and pharmaceutical industries. Pollution studies conducted in the Ratlam area show that the groundwater in part of Ratlam town and about 12 villages namely Doshigem, Ghatala, Bajankhedi, Jadwasa Kala and Khurd etc., has become red in color due to discharges from Sajjan Chemicals. The groundwater in these areas is also high in salinity. Sajjan Chemicals, Jayant Vitamins, Stellar Drugs, Alcohol Plant and IPCA Laboratory have been blamed for the increased salinity although all the industries except the latter two have shut down. Shutting down the industries has not solved the pollution problem as hazardous wastes lie in the open. In the factory premises of Sajjan Chemicals, three to four tanks filled with effluents remain untreated.

About 20 kilometers west of Chaibasa, the headquarters of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, lies the Roro hills-- home to an abandoned chrysotile asbestos mine. The Roro mines were closed down in 1983 after Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd. (now known as Hyderabad Industries Limited) decided that they were no longer profitable.

Nearly 0.7 million tons of asbestos waste mixed with chromite-bearing host rock lies scattered here and in 20 years no study has been conducted to assess the fate of this hazardous waste dumped improperly on top of Roro hills. The waste material extends several meters down slope spreading into the paddy fields on the foothills of Roro. About 40 centimeters of thick silty waste of crushed rocks is spread over the paddy fields and poisoning the local residents.

In 1983, the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) acquired land in Sarigam for setting up an industrial estate. They originally announced that there would be only engineering units in the area but later declared it a chemicals zone. 450-odd industrial units, including 50 chemical units have contaminated the groundwater and villagers claim that some units even use bore-wells to pump untreated effluents into the ground.

A Greenpeace study shows that groundwater in Sarigam is contaminated with organic pollutants such as tri-chloroethane, benzene and several organochlorine compounds. Benzene is a known carcinogen and dichlorobenzene is a persistent organic pollutant, which remains in the environment for a very long period of time.

Ever since 1840, when coal was discovered in Singrauli, the area's development has revolved around exploiting this natural resource. Today, there are eleven coal mines and six thermal power plants in the region, which straddles the border between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, earning Singrauli its nickname as India’s “Energy Capital”.

Ever since 1840, when coal was discovered in Singrauli, the area's development has revolved around exploiting this natural resource. Singrauli has been nicknamed India’s “Energy Capital”. The five super thermal power plants in the Singrauli area, which supply 10% of India’s power, are responsible for 16% or 10 tons per annum of total mercury pollution through power generation. According to ToxicLinks.org, Singrauli presently accounts for 10% of total Indian and 0.3% of global carbon dioxide emission, a major reason for global warming.

A widely cited but unpublished study by Electricité de France reveals that Singrauli's thermal power plants release about 720 kilograms of mercury per year. The UN cited an Indian Central Pollution Control board estimate that "17 percent of power plant mercury emissions are from the Singrauli region." Fly ash, the byproduct of coal combustion, is also a significant problem. The coal-burning power plants release about six million tons of fly ash a year, making land unfit for cultivation. In parts of Singrauli, the fly ash lies in piles five feet thick.

Singrauli is one of the twenty-two critically polluted areas identified by the Central Pollution Control Board.

Sirumugai is a small village in rural India located in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the river Bhavani. In 2001, the local viscose textile plant, the SIV Industries Ltd, shut down. This is now a legacy site, with the river and groundwater continuing to affect the health of the residents.

There are still 450 tons of high density liquid carbon disulphide stored in 14 tanks on the factory premises. The chemicals are stored underwater at room temperature (30 degree centigrade) to prevent evaporation. Evaporation can lead to cloud formation, which can then explode with a spark or friction, said a report from a scientific officer submitted to the Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore Rural District, R. Dhinakaran. Recently both the water and electricity supply to the factory was cut off for non-payment of bills, exposing the chemicals and making them vulnerable to an explosion. A news report published 4/9/2005 entitled “A closed chemical factory in Tamil Nadu waiting to be another Bhopal’ mentions that even a gas leak will adversely affect a 4-kilometer radius but a gas explosion would flatten the entire village of Sirumugai.

Chromite, a heavy metal used in the production of chrome metal and chromium, was discovered in India, in 1949. Today, about 97 percent of the nation’s deposits are found in the mineral-rich earth of the Sukinda Valley, Jajpur district, and it is the home to one of the largest open cast chrome ore mines in the world. Over 30 million tons of overburden (leftover rock after ore-removal) litters the surrounding areas and the Brahmani river banks. This area is flood-prone resulting in significant contamination of the waterways.

Tangra lies on the outskirts of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and was famous for its leather tanning industry.

A Supreme Court order forced the tanneries to relocate to a self-contained leather-processing complex in the Bantala area. This was in response to public interest litigation filed by environmentalists alleging that pollution from the industries exceeded the state pollution standards.

However some tanneries still exist here to this day despite relocation orders. This region has a very high water table and several wetlands around the old tannery sites. The entire area is about half a dozen city blocks in size.

Tarapur Industrial Estate in Maharashtra has been identified as a problem area due to severe pollution from chemical industries. Despite the installation of a common effluent treatment plant and drainage to carry and dispose of effluents safely, hazardous waste is still being dumped illegally and there is poor maintenance of infrastructure causing pollution. It has been referred to as one of Maharashtra’s worst industrial estates and the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee has estimated there to be approximately 40,000 tons of hazardous wastes dumped here.

Since 1946 Travancore Titanium Products Ltd. (TTP) has been producing titanium dioxide and has become the leading manufacturer of anatase grade titanium dioxide in recent years. It has been operating close to a beach for several years without an effluent treatment plant. The factory has its own sulfuric acid plants and generates around 120 tons of concentrated sulfuric acid everyday which is dumped into the Arabian Sea directly without any prior treatment. pH of the effluent generated by TTP is always around 1 indicating very high acidity.

Groundwater up to a depth of 100 feet has been rendered unfit for human consumption due to rampant industrial pollution in Toansa village. Four major pharmaceutical factories Ranbaxy Laboratories, Montari Industries (now closed), Max India, DSM India and a paper mill in the area have poisoned ground water with their toxic wastes to such an extent that the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation in Nawan Shahar has marked its 200 hand pumps with red crosses warning people that the water from these pumps has been contaminated with hazardous chemicals.

A copper smelter M/s Sterlite Industries in Tuticorin has several thousand tons of arsenic containing slag and phosphogypsum dumped on its premises. These wastes are inadequately stored and open to the elements. A National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) report dated 1998 indicates that there has been contamination of underground aquifers with arsenic and other heavy metals. The industry lies less than 25 kilometers from the Gulf of Munnar and NEERI had recommended that no further expansion should be permitted. However the industry has gone ahead and expanded its capacity to 300,000 tons per year despite not having permits to do so.

In 1997 the smelter in Tuticorin was forced to shut down due to gaseous emissions in the vicinity of the plant. It resumed production in mid-August as it was exonerated of blame for this gas leak but was closed again at the end of the month due to an explosion in a rotary holding furnace. It resumed operations in November.

A 55 kilometer long effluent canal carries treated wastewater from the Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) of three large-scale industries viz., Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals, IOCL Gujarat Refinery and Indian Petrochemicals Limited. It flows from Vadodara towards the sea coast. Water from the canal is used to irrigate farms whose produce is then sold in the Baroda markets. An estimated 120 million liters of treated wastewater annually moves through this canal.

The town of Vapi (population 71,000) marks the southern end of India's "Golden Corridor", a 400km belt of industrial estates in the state of Gujarat. Propelled by the development of these specialized economic zones, Gujarat is among the most industrialized states in India. Despite this, about two-thirds of the Gujarat's population is still involved in agriculture, tending to crops varying from wheat, millet, and rice to cotton, tobacco, and peanuts. Most of the local population living in or near Vapi relies on agriculture or fishing for subsistence.

Vishwas Nagar is located in the eastern part of the city of New Delhi, India. New Delhi is the capital of India and considered the fourth most polluted city in the world by the World Bank. Zoned as a residential area, much of the industry in Vishwas Nagar is illegal. A government estimate claims that 70% of the buildings in the area are used for industry.

In another city in the north east of India, Shillong, we are supporting the development of a project to clean up an extremely polluted stretch of the Wah-Umkrah River. This city has no sanitation treatment, and all the sewage from the town flows into the river, along with most of the garbage and factory pollution.