The river's curse: Kali river is causing cancer in 100 villages

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Hindon, Yamuna and Kali rivers is leading to cancer and deaths in the villages along these water bodies, said Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar on Thursday. The people residing in some of the worst affected areas told TOI that the situation is indeed grim. “Around 100-150 deaths have been reported annually due to cancer in the surrounding villages.

Besides taking strict action against those polluting the river, the authorities must consider increasing the flow of water in these rivers to dilute the toxicity," president of Meerut zila panchayat, Gaurav Chaudhary, told TOI. Anil Kumar, a resident of Chilora village, said, «I lost my wife (35) and two uncles, aged 56 and 60, to cancer. Water from hand pumps and tube wells is contaminated, as untreated industrial and urban waste is directly released into the river and percolates into the ground.» Surali Pal, coordinator of a private school, said they never use groundwater for drinking.

Instead, they bring 30 water campers a day for children. The MP said in Parliament, «Wherever samples were taken from the Kali river, the oxygen level was found zero, making it unfit not only for drinking but also for irrigation. This is due to effluents discharged by factories, sugar mills and paper mills into the river.

Over 100 villages are under threat.» Tomar also urged the central government «to intervene and direct the state government to take strict action in this regard». He also mentioned in Parliament that «STPs are not being operated according to their capacity.» Bhuvan Yadav, regional officer of UP Pollution Control Board in Meerut, said, «The river receives a considerable amount of wastewater from Abu-lane and Odeon drains and the factories situated on the river banks. For the