Vadodara: Environment activists are seeing red over the deteriorating quality of groundwater in Luna village of Padra taluka considered to be Gujarat’s ‘vegetable bowl’.According to Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), the groundwater pollution in Luna has reached to alarming levels as it has crossed even the limit of discharge norms of industrial effluent.The permitted limit of industrial effluent discharge is 250 mg/litre chemical oxygen demand (COD) whereas the COD level of groundwater at Luna is ten times higher, in the range of 2,225 to 2,722.This, they say, is the highest COD level reported in groundwater from anywhere in the country, so far.“It is for the first time that such high level of groundwater contamination has been found in the country. In fact, it cannot be even called water. It is chemical. And in government’s terminology, it is a terrorist attack on groundwater of the region,” said activist Rohit Prajapati The level of groundwater contamination was determined twice – first in October last through a joint investigation carried out by PSS and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and later in December through a joint investigation by PSS, GPCB, the Farmers Action Group (FAG), the affected farmers and Huntsman International India (P) Limited at two borewells located inside the factory premises.The findings of the reports were collected under the RTI Act on March 11.PSS has issued notices to all officials — from PM, Gujarat CM to secretary, nodal officers of Environment ministry, chairman and member secretaries of pollution control boards for “having failed to act against the polluting industries” despite complaints and representations by the NGO and villagers .

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