Industrial pollution is poisoning villagers of Humnabad taluk in Karnataka, but KSPCB is mum

“Pollution grew on a massive scale after many chemical factories relocated from Hyderabad, due to stringent chemical pollution norms in the capital of Telangana,” says Nizamuddin, a member of Maniknagar Gram Panchayat.

A few years ago, the groundwater in the villages of Humnabad taluk in Bidar district of north Karnataka was of such fine quality that people transported water from these villages to Kalaburagi, around 60 km away, in tankers. Now, they go to Humnabad town to buy potable water, as the groundwater in their villages is contaminated with chemicals released by the factories in Humnabad Industrial Area.

Large tracts of fertile agricultural land in Gadawanti, Basanthpur, Molkera, Maniknagar, Kallur, Dhumansur, Kathalli villages are gradually turning barren owing to groundwater contamination. Hazardous chemical waste is released into local streams, which join the Karanja river, allege villagers.

All the open wells in agricultural fields, which are meant for irrigation, on both sides of the stream, are filled with chemically contaminated water. Farmers have observed a significant fall in the quality of agricultural yield.

“We want to sell our land and our houses, and go to some other place. But, we don’t get any buyers because of the heavy pollution in the area,” Shivakumar Patil, a farmer from Gadawanti, told The Hindu.

A couple of years ago, villagers destroyed two check dams near Maniknagar to released chemically contaminated water into the stream. The check dams are yet to be repaired or rebuilt, to avoid the storage of chemically contaminated water.

The air pollution in the area is so high that residents of these villages and those living in the residential layouts around the industrial area say the stench is unbearable, especially at night.

Indumathi, a homemaker at Muneeshwar Bagh, which is adjacent to the industrial area, said, “We built this house seven years ago with our lifetime savings. Now, we are struggling even to breathe. Pollution has increased phenomenally in the last couple of years, as many chemical factories came up one after the other.”