Polluted lake water pumped out to save village water bodies

In A bid to save the water resources of a village,the water of a lake on the outskirts of Nodhana village in Jambusar Taluka,Bharuch district is now being pumped out,after it turned reddish due to the disposal of treated effluents by a private enterprise called the Effluent Channel Project Limited (ECPL). The ECPL allegedly disposed treated effluents in a 52 km long channel starting from Vadodara to Gulf of Khambhat.

Residents of the village claim that the Mukteshwar Mahadev lake,is not only considered holy but had also served as an important source of water for the entire village. The villagers have been complaining since 1989 that treated effluents from the ECPL have been entering water bodies in the village.

“Most of the borewells and tubewells in the village,about 11 of them,were closed down by the government after the waters were found to be unfit for any use,” said former sarpanch,Girish Patel.

Managing Director of ECPL,Satish Panchal said: “We agree that a lot of nuisance happened in the past. But this time we are clearing out the water as a part of our Corporate Social Responsibility. There is no way our effluents could have entered the lake. It was around 2004-2005 when red rains occurred in Vadodara and the surrounding areas which caused the soil to attain a reddish tinge.”