Maharashtra Facing Water Pollution- How To Control Water Pollution In Maharashtra State?
You might be shocked to hear water pollution is severe in Maharashtra state. What may be the causes of this water pollution or how can we control it? Read this article to know the details regarding water pollution in Maharashtra state and its causes, water pollution in industrial regions of Maharashtra, river pollution in Maharashtra, role of RRII in treating effluent, MPCB role in controlling water pollution, National River Conservation programme and many more !
Maharashtra, one of the largest state in India is facing water pollution for the past few years. Water pollution is now a major crisis of the world. Not only water pollution, air pollution is also a major crisis that is affecting major cities of Maharashtra state. Water, an important factor essential for the health of human beings, if contaminated leads to serious health problems. As we all know the major sources of water include oceans, lakes, rivers and ground water. The major rivers of Maharashtra state are Godavari, Krishna, Bhima and Wardha-Wainganga river respectively. We can say that if pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly to this water bodies without proper treatment to remove the harmful compunds, then this water pollution occurs. I hope you all got an idea how water pollution occurred in Maharashtra. Based on a report by CPCB(Central Pollution Control Board), Maharashtra state has the largest number of polluted river water stretches in India, when compared to other states. Image courtesy: greenpeace.org, green.in.msn.com, punescoop.com
Majority of the people are aware of the fact the consequences regarding water pollution. Remember that if the water sources are contaminated, then the natural biological communities as well as the individual species and population are totally affected. 99% of the causes of water pollution are caused by the mistake of human beings. Whenever there is a serious condition that arises from water pollution, then only we open our eyes. Causes of water pollution in Maharashtra state
Some of the basic causes of water pollution include pathogens, chemicals, elevated temperature, discoloration, palnt matter, man made chemicals, detergents, food processing waste, insecticides, herbiciides, volatile organic compounds, chlorinated solvents, acid mine drainage, fertilisers, heavy metal from motor vehicles, soil erosion and sedimentation in water bodies etc. Godavari river one of the major water sources of Maharashtra state was polluted due to human activities. On the other hand, Krishna basin drains places like Sangli, Solapur, Satara, Kolhapur and Ahemdnagar where large number of sugar plants are 
located. It's important to mention that these sugar plants use large quantities of water for their operation as well as discharge of waste particles. At the same time the disposal of pesticides and fertilisers were contaminating this natural water bodies. Industries play an important role for polluting the water sources. This is true fact regarding Maharashtra state as the 7 industrial regions fo this state are Nagpur, Konkan, Pune, Mumbai, Nasik, Amravati and Aurangabad respectively. If the factories discharge untreated effluent, it may lead to the death of fishes in that area. The Rubber Research Institute of India(RRII) located in Kerala plays an important role for testing the effluent sample submitted by various industrial companies. Luckily I also got the opportunity to test effluent samples in the RRII laboratory.
Rubber Research Institute of India(RRII) address, phone no: and official website
Rubber Board P.O
Kottayam 686009
Kerala state, India
Ph: 91-481-2353311-20 (10 lines)
Fax: 91-481-2353327
Rubberboard Website: www.rubberboard.org
Panchganga and Tapi river, the famous rivers of Maharashtra state is also under the danger of water pollution. Majority of the rivers of Maharashtra state was polluted in large concentration due to the presence of industries located in that area. As I mentioned earlier, all this are due to the negligence of human beings. We ourselves know the fact that water is an important source for irrigation, agriculture and drinking purposes. Not only industrial pollution, but also rapid urbanization plays an important role in water pollution of our state. The shocking news is that almost all major rivers flowing in India are marked as polluted river stretches. How can we control water pollution in Maharashtra state?
There should be a systematic monitoring process to access the pollution in rivers and lakes located in Maharashtra state. Industrial areas shouldnot be located very close to rivers as it may cause the discharge of chemical pollutants into this water bodies. Government should take necessary steps so as to regulate urban and industrial development so that health of human beings can be protected. Awareness should be created among the people for protecting the environment. Earlier in 2012, MPCB has decided to increase the number of water quality monitoring stations across Maharashtra state. Strict actions will be taken against 
companies which donot follow pollution control policies. As a part of this, the Bombay Highcourt has now directed MPCB to identify the polluting units to electricity board so that their power supply will be disconnected. Once the supply is disconnected, it won't be restored without special order of MPCB to the electricity company. One important fact every person should remember to control water pollution is by the proper maintenance of septic systems. I mentioned earlier not only water pollution, but the air pollution is also a major problem nowadays in Maharashtra state. Here you will be able to understand the role of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board in controlling air pollution in Maharashtra state.
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB address, phone no. and official website
Kalpataru Point
3rd and 4th floor,
Opp.Cine Planet
Sion Circle, Mumbai 400 022
Maharashtra state, India
Tel: 22-24020781 / 24014701 / 24010437
Fax: 022-24024068
Email: [email protected]
MPCB official website: www.mpcb.gov.in
As a part to curb the river and ground water pollution of this state, 27 surface water quality stations and 16 ground water quality stations were set in different parts of the state. Places where this water quality monitoring stations are located include Uran, Dombivli, Mahape, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Ratnagiri and Raigad. NRCP, popularly known as National River Conservation Programmme is a nodal central government plan to fight river water pollution. But only 4 rivers in Maharashtra state namely Godavari, Krishna, Panchganaga and Tapi are getting funds under NRCP. We have to wait and see whether all this efforts will save Maharashtra state from water pollution.
