Plastic bags, pollutants run through the Sabarmati river

Plastic bags, pollutants run through the Sabarmati river
MEGHDOOT SHARON

AHMEDABAD, NOVEMBER 21: `Sabarmati ke sant, tune kar diya kamaal', went a famous line from a famous prayer dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. Today, like many of the Mahatma's legacies, the Sabarmati river is in dire need of a miracle itself. The river, which flows through the heart of Ahmedabad, is paying the price for its proximity to the city and has become a repository of plastic, pollutants and human refuse.

The damage is obvious to the eye: the Sabarmati's water is dark bluish in some patches, red, green or black in other places. The river is dotted by stretches of bare sand and mud, and plastic bags containing hazardous chemicals float in the puddles of water that are left. Washermen scrub clothes with chemicals in its waters, and the few thousand Ahmedavadis who live along the river bank use it as a toilet.

Every morning, at least a dozen hand-driven carts laden with plastic bags arrive at the Sabarmati, just below Sardar bridge. Though the bags are empty, they are picked up from chemical industries in and around the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), and are smeared with dyes, caustic soda and other chemicals. The bags are washed in the Sabarmati before being sold to scrap dealers.

``I buy the bags from industries located in Naroda and Vatva GIDC areas for Rs 2 per bag and sell them to a dealer in Jamalpur for Rs 2.50 or Rs 3,'' says Vijay Solanki. He washes around 100 bags in the river everyday, and earns between Rs 50 and Rs 75.

Jignesh Rathod, who's barely in his teens, adds, ``I get around Rs 50 per day for washing 100 bags. I know it's dangerous, but it doesn't matter since I earn some money.''

It's not just the river that's at risk: the youth who handle the plastic are also fielding health hazards. Their hands and feet are chapped because of exposure to the chemicals, but their need to feed themselves and their families override health concerns.

Equally polluting are half a dozen washermen's bhattis, which are placed in the middle of the river bed. The clothes are washed in a mixture of soda, whiteners and river water.

As the river gasps for breath, the agencies that can make a difference -- the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) -- are loath to taking immediate action.

The AMC, ironically enough, runs a project called the Sabarmati Shudhikaran Yojna. Project head R.S. Sheth said any illegal activity being run in the river bed would have to be curbed by the Estate Department. ``I will inform the Central Zone Estate Department and they will take action,'' he promised. GPCB officials were unavailable for comment.

Last year, the AMC had cracked down on polluting activity in the river, but these days, says those in the business, the AMC looks the other way. ``Last year, we had to shift to Chandola lake, but there is no problem any more,'' said Haribhai, a washerman who lives in a slum bordering the river.