The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) continuously formulate programmes and undertake R&D activities covering different areas related to prevention and control of pollution as per provisions of The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. CPCB in discharging the assigned statutory functions over the past three decades has taken up a number of research and development projects. Several of these have been successfully completed, while many others are under progress.

For guiding and reviewing the research activities of the organization, the CPCB in its 122nd Board Meeting held on 24th April, 2002 has constituted Research Advisory Committee of Central Pollution Control Board. The Research Advisory Committee is broad based, High Power Committee comprising of experts in the field of research, representatives of CSIR national laboratories, nominees of DST, MOEF etc. The experts as nominated RAC members are as below:

The Terms of Reference (TOR) of Research Advisory Committee (RAC) are as below:

Ø The Research Advisory Committee will oversee the research activities of Central Pollution Control Board as per guidelines of Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, New Delhi.

Ø The Research Advisory Committee may advise the Central Pollution Control Board regarding investigations and research to be undertaken in following thrust areas:

- Nationwide prevention, abatement and control of water pollution in aquatic resources.

- Nationwide prevention, abatement and control of air pollution.

- Nationwide abatement and control of industrial pollution.

- Air/water pollution and human health.

- Assessment and development of River basins and river pollution.

- Restoration of environmental quality in problem areas/polluted stretches of rivers.

- Bio-assessment, bio-monitoring and bio-remediation.

- Abatement of pollution from non-point sources.

- Standards development.

- Pollution prevention and resource recycling.

- Environmental mapping and planning.

- Hazardous waste management monitoring.

- Bio-medical waste management.

- Pollution control technologies/clean technologies – ways and means for their adoption.

- Solid waste management.

- Treatability studies.

- Development of analytical/monitoring methodology.

- Specific R & D project to thrust pollution control activities.

Ø The Research Advisory Committee will provide directions to consolidate the on-going pollution control activities and advise regarding execution of schemes for each identified thrust areas and abatement of pollution.

Ø The RAC will meet at least once a year for guidance of research activities as well as for monitoring of ongoing research activities.

The Research and Development projects being executed directly by the scientists and engineers of the Board on their own or in collaboration with national and international specialized Research and Development Institutions in the country or by sponsoring the projects to be executed solely by reputed institutions. The CPCB Scientific & Technical activities during past five years include 51 Scientific projects, 65 collaborative project with various organizations/institutions, nine sponsored projects, 10 patents (4 obtained, 6 filed), Development of 70 industry specific environmental standards, more than 300 technical publications and 700 research papers published apart from 23 technologies developed for pollution prevention and control.

The first meeting of the RAC was held at CPCB, Delhi on 11th March, 2003 (Tuesday) to provide directions and consolidate the on-going pollution control and abatement activities. In the RAC meeting CPCB’s Scientists & Engineers made presentations about the on-going R & D activities and new projects proposed to be taken up on thrust areas. It was also proposed during the meeting that CPCB should undertake Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi to carry out R & D activities in the field of pollution abatement and control.

7.2 DEVELOPMENT OF TOXICITY BASED STANDARDS FOR INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS

The regulation of quality of industrial effluent is utmost necessary in order to protect the environment from adverse effect caused by effluent discharge. The toxicity test is summary parameter, which provides information about other effects parameters. The use of summary parameters like toxicity test is gaining importance for regulatory purpose as it has many more advantages over physico-chemical parameters. Realizing the importance of toxicity parameters and for the development of toxicity based Minimum National Standards (MINAS), a collaborative project being undertaken by Central Pollution Control Board involving five laboratories viz. Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar; National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad; National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur and two laboratories of CPCB located at Kanpur and Delhi.

The treated and untreated wastewater samples were collected jointly alongwith all five participating laboratories from effluent treatment plants and combined effluent treatment plants of selected Pulp & Paper industries and Tanneries. The collected samples were analyzed for estimation of toxicity independently by the laboratories adopting the BIS approved method based on Dimensionless toxicity factor (TF). The Toxicity Factor (TF) is the minimum dilution required for the hundred percent survivals of test fish for a period of 48 hours.

The analytical results of pulp and paper industries effluent indicate that the toxicity factor (TF) in the untreated effluent ranged between 1 to 16 whereas in treated effluent, its value ranged between 1 to 4. The range of percent toxicity reduction after treatment varied from 0 to 100%. In few cases, increase in the level of toxicity after treatment was also observed.

7.3 STANDARDIZATION OF METHODOLOGY FOR MEASUREMENT OF CERTAIN HAZARDOUS ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL)

PCB’s are the group of highly toxic, synthetic, chlorinated organics compounds, with chlorine substitution around biphenyl group as basic structural unit and constitute 209 individual congeners. The PCB species are non-biodegradable, stable with high toxicity and having tendency for bioaccumulation. It is believed that PCB’s do not occur naturally and they are resistant to chemical and biochemical process. The PCB’s have received much attention in recent years as ubiquitous environmental contaminants and their overwhelming problem of continuing environmental impact.

The PCB’s have potential industrial applications where non-flammability and heat resistant properties are desired and these compounds are more commonly used in heat transfer system, hydraulics/lubricants, transformers, capacitors as plasticizer and as petroleum additives. The PCB congeners, which contain fewer chlorine substitutions in ortho position, are more toxic than those having more chlorine in other portions. The most toxic PCB’s are tetra, penta and hexachlorobiphenyl congeners that are un-substituted in the other position.

The analysis of PCB in environmental sample is quite complex as numerous congeners are available in form of complex mixtures; because of this there are only few laboratories, which could analyze PCB’s in environmental samples.

The laboratory of Central/State Pollution Control Board and other environmental laboratories have limited technical expertise about measurements of residual PCB’s in environmental matrices viz. waste waters, industrial effluents, sludge and soil. The project standardization of Methodology for measurement of certain hazardous organic compounds has therefore been undertaken with following objectives.

- To develop facilities and Standardization of analysis of PCB’s in water, soil and sediments.

- To standardize procedure for extraction, clean up, concentration and pre-treatment of sample.

- To standardize GC optimum conditions (oven temp. detector, injector flow etc.) to achieve resolved peaks of individual PCB species.

- To undertake spiking and recovery studies in the field samples.

The PCB’s congeners in Aroclor Standard Solutions have been analyzed at CPCB Laboratories by Gas Chromatograph with Electron Capture Detector (ECD). Peak profiles of six Aroclor mixtures and overlapping peak were observed with GC-ECD. Some least overlapping peaks of Aroclor 1221, 1016, 1254 and 1260 were selected, which were used for calibration of the instrument. Qualitative analysis of Aroclor mixtures was also performed with GC-MS and the observations were compared with the literature. Congener identifications were predicted with the help of mass spectra and findings of other research data. Retention times and mass spectra of 28 individual congeners of toxicological significance were observed. Five levels of calibration (range 10 to 100 pg/µl) were performed using dilutions of mixture containing 28 PCB’s congeners.

To estimate PCB’s level in field samples, water and sludge samples were collected from river Yamuna at five locations in Delhi stretch and five major drains merging into river Yamuna in Delhi. Water samples were extracted after filtration with methylene chloride. Suspended solids of aqueous samples and sludge samples were extracted with hexane – acetone mixture. Extracts were concentrated using rotary vacuum evaporative concentrator and exchanged to Cyclohexane. Concentrated extracts were subjected to acid/base/silver nitrate clean up and basic alumina clean up, concentrated by nitrogen blowing and being analyzed on GC-MS using congener-specific method of analysis.

7.4 DEVELOPMENT AND STANDARDIZATION OF TRIHALOMETHANES (THM’S) IN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES

The halomethanes include all one carbon compounds with substituted chlorine or bromine. The sources of these compounds are industrial discharges and the synthesis during disinfection with chlorine. Trihalomethanes (THM’s) occur in drinking water principally as a product of reaction of chlorine with naturally occurring material and bromide that may also be present. With respect to drinking water contamination, four members of THM’s viz. chloroform, dichlorobromomethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform are important. World Health Organisation (WHO, 1993) has already enacted the health related guidelines values in drinking water.

In order to standardization of measurement methodology and regularly monitor the presence of these compounds in drinking water, the infrastructure facilities are under development at CPCB Laboratories.

7.5 STANDARDIZATION OF METHODOLOGY FOR PAH COMPOUNDS AND MEASUREMENT OF PAH IN KOLKATA.

Poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are important organic aerosol components generated from a variety of combustion processes and emitted into the atmosphere preferentially associated with the sub micron size particles. Some species of PAH are known human carcinogens. As a result it has received a good deal of attention over the last thirty years. It is well known that ambient air in Kolkata is more polluted than many other major cities. Therefore it was considered necessary to standardise the methodology for measurement of 6 PAH species initially and to generate data for PAH in ambient air of historical places namely Dakshineswar, Belur and Victoria memorial. The details of target compounds are shown in Table 7.1.

Calibration : A calibration standard was prepared from a Aldrich/Sigma with a concentration of 1000 mg/ml. The uncertainty contributions in standard preparation of PAH species were quantified. The contributions from purity and volume were negligible and therefore not being considered. Before using the GC for analysis, instrument was calibrated by observing the peak area (y) to different level of PAH species (x). The linear least square equation was used to obtain the slope and intercept for calculating the concentration of sample against peak area. Most significant source of uncertainty i.e. random variation in y were considered to measure the level of uncertainty. The calibration results along with slope, intercept and detection limits are presented in the Table 7.2.

Recovery Study: Two sets of five filters (blank) were spiked with known quantities of six target compounds. They were processed as done for sample and the results are shown in Table 7.3. The average recovery figures for the individual species were inadvertently used higher than the quantity available in the field samples. However, in this level, percentage of recovery was varying from 91 to 137. With respect to the nature of PAH compounds, this recovery is satisfactory and acceptable.

Sampling : EPM 2000 filter was used to collect particulate phase. The samples were collected over 24 hours with quantification of volume using high volume sampler maintained very carefully. Sampler was leak checked before each sampling event. Sample data sheet filled in with all details along with filter paper brought to lab and kept in dessicator in a freezer until extraction.

Extraction : The sample was extracted following USEPA method with some modification according to our scope. The final purified extract is analysed under the following operating condition :

Instrument - Chemito GC – 1000

Injection - 0.5 ml

Oven temperature - Initial temperature 140oC holding for 1 min. increased at the rate of 8oC/m to 205oC, increased at the rate of 25oC to 255oC holding for 20 min.

Total run time - 32 min.

Carrier gas - Nitrogen linear flow 30 ml/min

Gases for FID - Hydrogen with 30 ml/min and air about 300 ml/min

Column - BP 0.5 – 5% phenyl polysiloxane

Calibration - Calibration is performed using a standard PAH mixture containing six compounds.

Standard addition method : The sample filters fortified with SRM were processed to evaluate matrix influence on the recovery of target PAH compounds in this test method. Few filter sample collected in duplicate adjacent to sampling site were used for recovery study. That filter were cut into two : one part was placed in one soxhlet and another part in another soxhlet spiked with certified standard. The sample filter is folded in four and placed at the bottom of large clean soxhlet body. Then extraction was done following USEPA method. The result of standard addition method are shown in the Table 7.4. Revealed that percentage of difference from expected values were from 4 to 35, this may be considered satisfaction and acceptable. Based on this performance measurements in ambient air were done.

7.6 DEVELOPMENT AND STANDARDIZATION OF SOIL AND SOLID WASTE ANALYSIS FOR ANALYTICAL QUALITY CONTROL (AQC)

Municipal Solid wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 and The Hazardous waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 (Amendment) notified under Environment (protection) Act, 1986 requires analysis and characterization of the solid wastes. As on date many laboratories of pollution control boards are not fully equipped for carrying out the analysis of such wastes. Keeping this in fact, the project is proposed to standardize the analysis of soil (polluted) and solid waste with a focus on conducting AQC exercises to the laboratories of SPCB/PCC and also laboratories recognized under E(P) Act. In this study, different polluted soil, industrial solid waste, Hazardous wastes, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) etc. have been collected, hamozinised and analyzed for various physico chemical parameters. Two sets of homogenized MSW compost samples were distributed among 75 laboratories of Pollution Control Boards and committees for carrying out analysis under the Inter laboratory AQC programe. The parameters covered are pH, conductivity, water-soluble solids, loss on ignition, IKN, Total P2O5 and Total K. In phased manner, other solid waste samples of Hazardous wastes, polluted soils etc. will be carried out.

7.7 IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION CREATED BY UNORGANIZED SECTORS IN KANPUR CITY

Kanpur is one of the largest agglomerations of north India. Some times Kanpur once known as Manchester of India is now showing its decreased growth in industrial sector. Despite these facts, the tremendous increase in population of the city has created multiple demands of the citizens that are being met by the local market. The various activities/small manufacturing/processing units are scattered all over the city and in most of the cases the government agencies have no control over them. These activities are being performed by non-scientific personnel and hardly have any environmental consideration. So far no effort has been made to control these kind of problems. This has not only resulted in serious environmental problems but also shadowing the different developmental activities being under taken in the city by government and non-government agencies.

In view of the above an effort has been made to have an over view of unorganized sectors in the city. Inventory of all-important sectors have been done. Inventory of approximately 4000 units covering the following sectors have been done in the first phase of study;

· Dairy (Chatta)

· Bullion refinery

· Small potteries

· Sweet mart

· Bakery

· Service Stations

Salient features of each sector may be summarized as below

Dairy

Ø The units are scattered all over the city.

Ø The flock of cattle may also be seen as a mobile dairy unit moving in the city. This activity not only affects the aesthetic view of the city but also prone to accident.

Ø The wastewater generated mainly by floor washing contains high BOD, COD and TSS and goes directly to the city sewer/open drain without any treatment.

Bullion Refinery

Ø The units are concentrated to certain localities of the city.

Ø Create lot of air pollution in terms of acid fumes.

Ø Also discharges highly acidic wastewater to the municipal sewer/open drain without any treatment.

Small Potteries

Ø The units are scattered all over the city.

Ø Creates severe air pollution due to partial burning of fuel wood, cow dung cake and coal.

Ø The problem is more prominent during winter season.

Sweet mart

Ø Scattered all over the city.

Ø Creates severe air pollution due to burning of hard coke, HSD and kerosene.

Ø The problem is more severe during morning time.

Ø Also contribute high BOD and COD to the municipal sewer/open drain through wastewater generated mainly by washing of utensils.

Bakery

Ø The units are concentrated to certain areas of the city.

Ø Creates air pollution due to burning of fuel wood and hard coke.

Service Station

Ø Scattered all over the city.

Ø Use huge amount of fresh water for washing of vehicles.

Ø Create water pollution in terms of high TSS and Oil & Grease.

Ø Wastewater discharge is without treatment to the municipal sewer/open drain.

The data collected during studies shall be used in interpretation of the problems created by the specific sector and for probable control strategies.

7.8 COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON METHODOLOGY OF ANALYSIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

Hazardous waste can be defined as "Chemical or biological refuse of industrial or consumer origin, considered potentially dangerous to human and/or the environment. As per Schdule-4 of Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, procedures for characterization of Hazardous waste has to be recommended.

Many test procedures of Corrosivity, Reactivity, Ignitability, Toxicity are available for characterization of Hazardous Waste substances. One such test procedure is the Toxicity Characterization Leaching Procedure (TCLP). As per US-EPA method, the solid waste is leached using two levels of pH buffers i.e. 4.93 + 0.2 and 2.88 + 0.2 depending upon the chemical nature of samples. TCLP followed in USA and Canada is different in terms of procedure and standards whereas in Europe, they do not include TCLP as part of regulation on hazardous waste Management. Other method popularly followed in European counties is Constant pH (pH Stat: say 4.0) Extraction method. Some countries follow using distilled water extraction procedure. The composition and levels of leaching substances vary from method to method and thereby the interpretation with reference to standard limits also varies considerably. Though no method could able to match with real field situation, a judicial approach has to be made to derive better choice of method.

Keeping these facts in view, the project study has been formulated to carryout a comparative studies on various leachate test procedures using wastes generated from different units like Tannery, Lead & Zinc recovery (Lead & zinc slag/slag ash), Pesticides, Basic drugs, Dyes & Dye- intermediates and land fill sites for deriving better choice of method in the light of the Hazardous Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2000 (Amended). The main objectives of the study are:

· to assess the merits and demerits of various leaching procedures.

· to estimate variations in the levels of leaching under various test methods.

· to suggest a suitable test procedure for toxicity characterization to be followed uniformly in India.

During the study, solid waste sample from Tannery unit has been collected, homogenized, extracted under various extraction procedures like US-EPA - TCLP, European Constant pH and Distilled Water Extraction and analysed for metals. In addition, the Total metal contents of the sample were also analyzed for comparison purpose. The general characteristic of the waste in terms of pH, Conductivity, Total water soluble Solids, Loss on Ignition (%) and Organic Carbon.

The general characteristics of the tannery solid waste( Hazardous waste) is presented in Table 7.5.

The leachate concentrations of various metal under different Extarction procedures are presented in Table 7.6.

Table 7.6 Leachability efficiency of various extraction procedures for different
metals (mg/Kg) from Hazardous waste of Tannery unit

Maximum extraction was found in pH Stat method for metals like Chromium, Copper, Iron, Nickel, lead and Zinc (Table 7.6) when compared to other methods (water Extact, TCLP). Chromium, being the predominant metal present in tannery waste, leaches to be maximum of 134 mg/Kg under pH Stat method as compared to lower extraction found in TCLP (5.30 mg/Kg) and Water Extraction (6.20 mg/Kg) methods. From the results obtained for different parameters following the Water extract, TCLP and pH Stat extraction, it is determined that in overall pH Stat is leaching out maximum followed by TCLP and the water extract. Further studies using other types of Hazardous wastes are in progress.

7.9 STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OF HIGH DISSOLVED SOLIDS ON THE RATE OF BIO-DEGRADATION OF WASTES

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a good indicator of measuring organic load. The rate of biodegradation in natural environment is affected by many factors such pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, microbial bacteria, dissolved solids etc. Much study is not carried out on the impact of dissolved solids on the rate of degradation of wastes particularly in India. Keeping these in fact, a study on the “Effect of high dissolved solids on the rate of bio-degradation of waste water” was carried out at Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi. The main objective of this study is to find out the effect of high dissolved solids on the rate biodegradation of organic matter

Samples collected from Sewage Treatment Plant, Gurgaon, (Inlet and Outlet), Distillery Industry (Inlet) and Common Effluent Treatment Plant Mangolpuri (Inlet) were analysed. One synthetic sample of GGA (Glucose Glutamic Acid) was also used as a control. The total dissolved solids (TDS) content in the incubated BOD bottle was set ranging from Samples were kept for BOD test in such a way that final concentration of TDS in the BOD bottles were in the range of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 mg/l for each sample. For raising TDS levels, a natural ground water sample having TDS of 6002 mg/l has been used as dilution water.

It has been observed that Synthetic sample of GGA (Glucose Glutamic Acid) showed % reduction on the rates of BOD degradation as 5, 9, 19, 24, 30, 38, and 48 % respectively under different levels of TDS mg/l. Similarly the comparative values of the % reduction of the rates of BOD under different TDS levels for various types of samples are presented in Table 7.7. It is observed that overall mean percentage (%) of BOD degradation rates were 5, 9, 16, 20, 25, 31 and 39 % respectively under 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 mg/l of TDS levels respectively

Note:
BOD - Biochemical oxygen demand STP (Inlet) - Sewage Treatment Plant (Inlet)
TDS - Total dissolved solids STP (Outlet)- Sewage Treatment Plant (Outlet)
GGA - Glucose Glutamic Acid CETP -Common Effluent Treatment Plant
Industrial - Distillery Industry

It may be inferred that the rate of biodegradation of organic waste is inversely proportional to the concentration of inorganic dissolved solids present in the aquatic medium.

The observation reveals that the high TDS levels in water bodies decrease the rate of biodegradation considerably. Further this study emphasizes the need of the control of TDS levels through fixation of standards for aquatic system to improve the rate of degradation of organic waste.

7.10 IMPACT OF WORSHIP IDOL IMMERSION

Idol immersion in river Yamuna in Delhi

The idol immersion in water bodies is the social ritual followed immediately after the Dushehra celebrations. The well decorated Clay/Plaster of Paris idols are worshipped during Durga Puja celebration at various venues. At the end of celebrations, the idols are taken into processions to various ghats of River Yamuna for immersion in river water.

The impact of immersion of worship idols in Yamuna River after Dushehra festival has been studied by Central Pollution Control Board at Delhi stretch from upstream Wazirabad to downstream Okhla barrage. It was estimated that approx. 1600 idols were immersed at Ramghat, ISBT and Okhla in Delhi stretch of River Yamuna during Dushehra Festive Season 2002. It has been derived from this study that various items used in preparation of idols have impact on aquatic environment during immersion (Table 7.8).

The impact on water quality of river have been observed with respect to levels of conductivity, Total and Dissolved solids. Biochemical oxygen demand. River bed sludge analysis reflected elevated levels of trace metals viz. iron, arsenic and mercury. Based on the study, the following suggestions have been made to reduce the pollution load from idols immersion activities:

- Areas may be earmarked for immersion and other related activities to prevent indiscriminate disposal and to help retrieval of recoverable materials.

- Temporary confined pond near rive locations may be identified for immersion of idols and other worship material to prevent pollution of main river stream. The closed pond water may be disposed into Main River after settling, scavenging and treatment.

- The offerings like flowers and leaves may be collected in separate containers or in pits for composting.

- After immersion, the recyclable articles like Jari, Clothes, plastics, aluminium foil, wood and bamboo may be taken out from the water bodies. The civic authorities may engage agencies/persons for doing the job.

- Environment friendly practices such as use of biodegradable dyes and paints may be encouraged.

- Public should be made aware of adverse affects of idol immersion in river water.

- Rag picker activities through which recyclable material is removed should be encouraged further to avoid the contamination of river water with floating materials like plastics, flowers, wooden structure etc.

Idol immersion in Ponds in Kolkata

The number of pujas are held preparing idols, which are ultimately immersed in water bodies as a part of religious and cultural event. The major one is Durga Puja in Kolkata, when big idols in large number are prepared using different types of materials such as clay, straw, woods, dyes etc. During immersion these are disposed off in the water body. In addition to these, disposal of fruits, flowers and other materials may cause deterioration of water quality. Keeping this in view, a study was undertaken in Kolkata to assess the changes of water quality due to immersion of idol. Dry study was also carried out to quantify the raw materials required for making the idol to have a stoichiometric quantity being disposed. The varnish oil and water soluble dyes are considered the source of pollutants among the raw materials used in preparation of idol. For impact study, three ponds were selected for sampling Salient features of these ponds are presented in Table 7.9. Sampling of water and sediment was done before and after immersion at different four points of each pond – two at immersion site and two at offsite to represent the whole water body. But the coefficient of variation of results of four points (not tabulated here) showed wide variation indicating non uniform distribution of major mearurand in pond. In this condition it would not be very reliable to compare water quality during pre-immersion and post immersion in such large ponds. However, to have an idea about charges before and after immersion, the values of four point in each pond have overall changes of different variables are depicted in Table 7.10. The results revealed that no major changes with respect to Chloride, Potassium, Sulphate, Phosphate, Calcium. Though very little inclination of these variables were observed. Considering the volume of water in three ponds quantity of metal increased due to immersion was quantified. From the results (Table 7.11) it may be mentioned that 6.4 Kg. of iron, 0.32 Kg. Zinc and 1.02 Kg Manganese were added to the pond through immersion. Though there may be error in quantification of metal load due to wide variation among different points of the pond and lack of normalisation of metal with respect to TSS, pH, sediment load, density of plankton etc. But clear inclined trend through not exactly quantified was observed in this study. The above findings were based on one time information. Therefore, the changes due to immersion of idol required to be confirmed through further study.

7.11 STUDY OF FISH MORTALITY IN RIVER YAMUNA

Fish mortality occurred on a massive scale in river Yamuna initially at Agra stretch on 13 June 2002 and later at nearby Bah (80 Km D/S) on two closely followed occasions within a fortnight. The CPCB submitted its findings that basically ruled out any toxic contamination (later confirmed by official reports) and held Dissolved Oxygen depletion in the night time to be a prime cause for the mishap (Tables 7.12 & 7.13).

The diurnal variation of dissolved oxygen accompanied with low flow rate might have aggravated the situation in critical periods (lean). The study suggested for regular DO monitoring to see the diurnal variation over seasons and emphasized to ascertain minimum flow rate in the river for normal upkeep of the river ecosystem.

7.12 EFFICIENCY TESTING OF AUTOCLAVES USED FOR HOSPITAL WASTE TREATMENT BY SPORE TESTING METHODOLOY

The Biomedical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998 notified by Govt. of India, has stipulated rules for proper collection, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of bio-medical waste. As per Bio-medical Waste Rules, 1998 the hospitals have to install treatment facilities like incinerators, autoclaves, etc. for treatment of bio-medical wastes generated to ensure safe treatment & disposal of infectious hospital waste. These treatment facilities should operate at designed efficiency level.

A project has been continued by Central Pollution Control Board for assessment of treatment efficiency of autoclaves used during hospital waste treatment based on standardized spore testing methodology. The objectives of the study was in-situ assessment of the efficiency of autoclaves and hydroclaves installed at various hospitals to ascertain 4Log10 reduction of Bacillus stereothermophilus biological indicator.

The standardized spore testing methodology using Bacillus Stereothermophilus as biological indicator has been used with a view for its application for efficiency testing of autoclaves and hydroclaves installed at Delhi and Kanpur. The results obtained during the study indicated that the Bio-medical waste treatment autoclaves installed at various hospitals are satisfactory with respect to sterilization of bio-medical waste undertaken at these autoclaves.

7.13 GEOACCUMULATION AND BIOACCUMULATION STUDIES

Geo-accumulation and Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals and Pesticides on Soil and Crop Vegetation during Wastewater Irrigation

With increasing paucity of fresh water untreated/partially treated sewage water is increasingly utilized for irrigation of soil and growing of crops. The sewage wastewater generation from urban areas has been constantly increasing, while the wastewater treatment capacity is quite less than the total wastewater generation. The treated/untreated wastewater is increasingly utilized for irrigation of crops, vegetation etc. With the view to study the impact of wastewater on geo-accumulation and bio-accumulation on irrigated soil and crop vegetation in Delhi, the project studies have been undertaken. The study undertaken between April, 2002 to March, 2003 included following aspects:

- The survey has been conducted at Najafgarh drain basin and dry cultivated areas in river bed of Yamuna after confluence of various drains, where sewage water is being used for irrigation of soil and growing crops vegetation.

- Water, soil, plants and vegetables such as Brinjal, Spinach, Bitter gourd, Lady’s finger etc. have been collected and analyzed for trace metals and pesticides during consecutive random sampling rounds.

From the analytical data, it has been derived that sewage irrigated soil have elevated metallic content, which may be the cause of transfer of metals from soil to plant tissues, which may bio-accumulate in edible parts of vegetables.

Assessment of Bio-accumulation of Heavy Metals in Fish

Accumulation of certain toxic metals in different sea food and their subsequent transfer to man through the food chain is a great concern and number of incidents of heavy metals contamination in fish and resultant human suffer have been reported time to time all over the world. With the Increasing rate of metal pollution in river, ponds and sea, there is possibility of contamination of metals in fishes. Fish musculature is a major path through which heavy metals can enter the human body. Keeping this in view, monitoring was carried out to ascertain the level of metal content in edible fish tissue collected from the coasts of West Bengal. Fishes irrespective of size and age were collected from two fish landing stations (Digha and Diamond harbour) for the analysis of heavy metals. The concentrations of metals observed in muscle tissue of different species of fish are presented in Table 7.14. The estimated concentration of all metals in fish muscle compared well with those of reported values in fishes from different parts of other coasts.

As reported fish actively regulates zinc in their muscle tissue but prevailing concentration of zinc in fish tissue particularly in Diamond Harbour as shown in Table 7.14 indicated the incomplete regulation of this element. Iron was found most abundant in all the species. Prevailing concentration of different metals in fish tissue and variation in same species and variation from species to species and correlation coefficient among different metals would help to ascertain their physiological mechanism in particular coastal environment. Species to species variation in concentrations of metals in fish tissue may be attributed to the feeding habits of different species. The accumulation of metal in fishes, landed at Diamond Harbour was significantly higher with respect to the species landed at Digha. Further in-depth probing is essential to ascertain the cause of inclination of metals in fish in particular coast.

7.14 RESPIRABLE SUSPENDED PARTICULATE MATTER (RSPM) CHARACTERIZATION AT AGRA

Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) characterization study was carried out to ascertain the characterization of RSPM (with size distribution and chemical composition) for the samples collected on May 5/6, 2002. It was found that it had 84-96 % as PM10 fraction, organic fraction was 11.10-14.54% by concentration and inorganic as 85.45-88.90 observed at various selected locations. Further, heavy metals were also observed in higher concentration at Rambagh and Nunhai (mainly Ni and Fe). The basic finding of the study was high inorganic fraction in the samples. Taj Mahal recorded lowest concentrations for all the monitored parameters (Table 7.15).

Table 7.15 RSPM characterization at Agra

7.15 COLOUR PROBLEM OF RIVER GANGA

River Ganga, the holiest of all rivers and lifeline of North India, has dark coloured water in some stretches. This has not only hurt the sentiments of the millions of people but also has adversely affected the drinking water supply of the towns situated along the river; which included the Metro Towns like Kanpur and Allahabad. The problem got compounded on account of Magh Mela, which falls in the winter only and runs for around a month. On having brought the incidence into the notice, CPCB Zonal office, Kanpur carried out detailed investigation and monitoring and Findings are as below:

Colour problem of River Ganga may be attributed to discharges of various industries in the river Ganga directly or through its tributaries. Kali and Ramganga were found responsible for carrying the colored waste to river Ganga .Both the rivers were surveyed deeply and Water quality monitoring at different stretches of these two rivers were conducted, which is reflected in tables 7.16 & 7.17.

Drains and streams, which meet with river Ramganga were also monitored to assess the water quality and to find the exact source of problem. Water quality of various drains meeting with Ramganga is shown in Table 7.18.

Distilleries and Small Agro based paper mills were among the responsible industries for colour problem located in the region of Meerut, Moradabad and Barilly of Uttar Pradesh and in Kashipur area of Uttranchal State. Detailed survey was conducted to assess the pollution potential of these units. Based on the survey, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and 18 other industries were issued direction for taking immediate measure to control the colored discharge.

Reasons for colour development

During non-monsoon season, particularly in winter flow in the river Ganga recedes to bare minimum to provide sufficient dilution to the effluent discharges. Problem becomes more severe when there is insufficient discharge downstream to Narora Dam at Ganga.

Number of small agro based paper mills without chemical recovery and distilleries are operating in the catchments area of River Ganga that have very high color potential, which are discharging directly or indirectly to river Ganga in upstream of Kanpur.

During winter months industrial discharges were observed to be at peak due to running of Sugar mills and distilleries at full capacity. Though some industries have made arrangement for storing of its effluent during non-monsoon season but generally it is not adequate. The following recommendations were suggested based on the study.

1 Distilleries are required to operate on zero discharge during non- monsoon season. Distilleries that have not opted bio- composting of spent wash should have facility to store its effluent for at least 9 months and in no case effluent be discharged in winter months. A detailed status of each industry about storage capacity of the effluent needs to be collected and compiled. In case it is lesser, the production needs to be curtailed/stopped accordingly particularly during the critical winter months.

2 Only solution with effluent of Small Agro based Paper Mills seems to either installation of Chemical Recovery Plant or switching over to the only waste paper as raw material because paper mill generates lot of effluent (200- 250 m3/tonne of paper) and such large quantity can not be stored as it will require huge space.

3 Minimum critical flow should be maintained through Narora barrage in Ganga during winter to provide sufficient dilution.

4 Strict vigilance is mandatory to the industries discharging their waste in to the tributaries of Ramganga by concerned State Pollution Control Board, as otherwise Ganga becomes almost dry after Narora and any practical solution is difficult to achieve without this. Further other barrages on Ganga and its tributaries may at least release some water to maintain minimum flow in the river.

5 Distilleries and Paper mills should try for colour removal from their treated effluent.

7.16 PERFORMANCE STUDY OF ARSENIC REMOVAL PLANT (ARP) FITTED WITH TUBE WELL IN WEST BENGAL

The best solution to human exposure to arsenic contaminated ground water is to provide arsenic free water by tapping surface water sources. This proposition is costly affair as it cover all the arsenic effected area and time consuming. Considering the magnitude of arsenic problem in West Bengal and limitations of surface water, West Bengal government is setting up number of Arsenic Removal Plant (ARP) attached with tube wells in different districts as a short term measure to the problem. Most of removal processes are capable to remove AS (V) from ground water. Therefore effective removal of arsenic as a whole requires complete conversion from AS (III) (always present as observed) to AS (V). This aspect must be taken into consideration otherwise the process becomes slow. Also the level of arsenic content in tube well was observed upto 450 mg/l. Hence the removal technique must be able to take care of concentration of 500 mg/l, if not more. There are some other chemical species in ground water, which may reduce the efficiency of removal process. Considering the above fact, performance of different ARP was studied to evaluate the efficiency in removing arsenic from ground water and their acceptability to users.

The study was also undertaken to assess the efficiency of Arsenic Removal Plants (ARP) installed at different locations in West Bengal. 30 plants were monitored for this study. In this study some of the ARP installed in south 24 parganas and Murshidabad districts were selected for collecting samples to get them analysed in the Zonal laboratory. The analytical results of As, Fe, Zn & Mn both at inlet and outlet of ARP are presented in the Tables 7.19 and 7.20 indicating percentage of removal of these elements of different districts.

Table 7.19 indicated that removal of arsenic by the ARP considered for the study was varying from 26 percent to 97 Percent. Out of 30 Arsenic removal plant, 5 ARP were unable to bring down the arsenic level below permissible limit. If the random survey taken into the reality, the percentage of failure is about 17 percent. Already more than 1000 such ARP has been installed in Murshidabad district. If the above factor applied to all the ARP, the failure may be expected about 170 out of 1000. In some of the ARP it was observed that the level of zinc content in treated water was higher than that of untreated water. This may be due to leaching of zinc from the media. In case of manganese, concentration was higher in treated water excepting leaching from the media. Significant reduction of iron was observed at all the treatment plants. Therefore, iron content in untreated water is the crucial element in maintaining the efficiency of the ARP for a longer time. In addition to removal of arsenic, iron, manganese and zinc, some other parameters like conductivity, TDS, phosphate, nitrate, calcium, total hardness etc. were also measured. Based on analytical results, it was observed that phosphate was drastically reduced in all the ARP and chloride was in higher concentration in treated water. No systematic trend was observed for other variables such as Manganese, Chloride, Fluoride, Nitrate etc. Such random variation in treated water may be due to the composition of media used for removing Arsenic. It was observed clearly that Chloride and Zinc were leached through media. pH value was found higher than that of untreated water due to nature of media used. The data obtained were further processed to evaluate the correlation among the different parameters and percentage of removal of other variables.

As the large number of people are using the treated water with a confidence of the ARP system and there are number of factors playing important role to maintain efficiency and life of ARP, monitoring of the tube well being continued regularly to assess the performance of ARP.

The following are the field observation in maintenance of Arsenic Removal Plants:

Ø Maintenance personnel were not regular in attending their duty in some places. As reported by the villagers, no cleaning is done particularly during summer and rainy season resulting deterioration of water quality.

Ø Wastage of treated water was significant as villagers were not keen to take responsibility. The valve fixed at the mouth of tube well is closed to get the arsenic free water for drinking and cooking and is opened to have water directly from tube well (without treatment) for other purposes. But when valve was non-operational, villagers collected treated water for all uses resulting wastage of treated water.

Ø Back washing of iron-removal column was not very regular resulting yellowish colour of the water. Washers are damaged frequently.

Considering the magnitude of arsenic problems in West Bengal, it is urgently required that with the installation of ARP, proper network for operation and maintenance and monitoring of ARP must be developed to ensure the safe water to people. Also awareness campaign must be accelerated to involve the villagers in arsenic mitigation programme.

7.17 ASSESSMENT OF BTX AT MAJOR TRAFFIC INTERSECTIONS IN KOLKATA

Presence of VOC in the ambient air has been the focus of research considering their harmful effect on human health. Recently emphasis has been given on the study of concentration of VOC in the ambient air particularly in the urban areas. Benzene along with toluene and xylene has been a prime target for assessment whose concentrations have been closely related to the use of gasoline and automobile exhaust. Therefore with the installation and operation of BTX analyser, the calibration of the instrument was performed by dilution of gases from permeation tube (VICI Metronics, USA) with zero air and the results obtained were processed to evaluate analytical response based on the parameter are depicted in Table 7.21. Detection limit of some compounds are higher with respect to expected concentration in ambient air. Therefore further calibration with lower range would be carried out to check the uncertainty in ambient concentration level.

The study has been undertaken at busy road intersection of three different locations (Behala, Garia and Tollygunj) in Kolkata, one of the largest and densely populated cities to assess their concentrations. Each location, sampling was done for 24 hours at 15 minutes interval. The data generated were processed to study the influence of time and location by statistical technique (i.e. analysis of variance). The BTX concentrations were varying significantly due to location and time. With this variation it may be mentioned that in this study outlier values could not be eliminated from the data and therefore further processing of the data using statistical technique would be done to ascertain the real contribution of variation mainly due to time and location considering uncertainty by BTX analyser. The 8- hourly averages of these concentrations are presented in Table 7.22.

Monitoring is regularly carried out at Tollygunj to assess the distribution pattern of BTX concentration. Month wise distribution (for four months) averaging more than 2500 values in each month are presented in Table 7.23. Based on standard deviation, it may be mentioned that wide variation was observed among all the hours/days. In this situation it is difficult to find out seasonal impact on BTX. However, further attempt would be taken to eliminate the outlier and further processing would be done to ascertain the sources of variation of BTX with one year data.

7.18 STUDIES ON AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL AND AIR POLLUTION DURING DEEPAWALI

Ambient noise level monitoring was carried out at various locations in Delhi, i.e. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Lajpat Nagar, New Friends Colony, East Patel Nagar, Connaught Place, India Gate, Mayur Vihar, Patel Nagar and Kamla Nagar on the occasion of Deepawali festival. At Kamla Nagar noise monitoring was conducted from 17.00 hrs. to 23.00 hrs. while at other lcoations, short duration (half hourly) noise level monitoring was conducted between 17.00 hrs. and 23.00 hrs.. The average Leq noise level value for short duration at 8 monitored locations ranged between 54 dB(A) and 68 dB(A). The Leq noise level at Kamla Nagar ranged between 63 dB(A) and 83 dB(A).

· The Ambient noise level during Deepawali, 2002 at the monitored places are lower as compared to the values, recorded during Deepawali, 2001 except at AIIMS where the values are higher than those recorded in 2001. At New Friends Colony, the data indicates slight increase in the noise level as compared to year 2001.

· The long duration noise level monitoring, conducted at Kamla Nagar indicated appreciable reduction in the noise level (from 79 dB(A) to 62 dB(A)) as compared to year 2001 Deepawali festival.

Ambient air quality monitoring was also carried out at ITO Intersection and Ashok Vihar using manual monitoring techniques and at East Patel Nagar (Pusa Road) using the mobile monitoring van.

· Nitrogen dioxide levels have shown a significant decrease in year 2002 as compared to the levels observed in year 2001.

· Suspended particulate matter (SPM) and Respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) have not shown any significant change in year 2002 as compared to year 2001.

The meteorological conditions were not favourable for dispersion of pollutants which attributed to the higher concentration of measured pollutants (SPM and RSPM). During the monitoring period, the weather was calm and most of the time in the day, wind speed was less than 0.3 m/sec. Even during rest of the period, the wind velocity was very low and the maximum hourly average wind speed recorded on Deepawali day was 0.9 m/sec.