No reprieve for Bichhri

The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute study, carried out at the behest of the Supreme Court, lists the 'dewatering' of the aquifer around Bichhri as a measure to repair the damage done by the H-acid plants. But environmental engineer and senior professor of Aligarh Muslim University, R L Siddiqui, explains that this is not really an option for the following reasons:
• Dewatering is a valid measure only if the pollutant is added to the well directly (for example, a putrefying animal body/waste added to the well)

• If the ground water is pumped out, there will be a continuous inflow into the aquifer from adjoining sources, which in turn is recharged by surface sources (lakes, rivers, etc) or directly by rain water

• In the present case, it implies that good quality water (probably from Udaisagar canal) will percolate through the soil and scrub it clean of the absorbed pollutants.

A highly impractical proposal if one considers the volume of soil to be scrubbed: a minimum of 2 sq km area x 10 m deep, that is, 4 million cu m

• Consider the energy required to pump out that water (more than 4 million cu m, since 2x106 M2 (area) x 4 m (average water depth) x 0.5 (porosity) = 4 x 106) and the volume of good clean water which will be ultimately wasted

• How will this waste water, with a toxic content several times more concentrated than sewage waste, be disposed?

• A comparison of the observations taken before and after the monsoon, when the water table had risen by about 2 m, shows no dilution of pollutants. In other words, even the addition of about 2 million cu m of good water (2 X 106 M2 (area) x 2 m (rise in water level) x 0.5 (porosity) = 2 X 106 M3) did not have any dilution effect. This water amounts to the water requirement for a village population of 10,000 for 10 days at the rate of 20 litre per capita per day.