New Delhi: Excessive riverbed mining in Haridwar has rendered the quality of groundwater “very poor” and unsuitable for drinking, according to researchers from Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya. They have also warned that adverse health effects of drinking such water range from developing kidney stones to irregular heartbeat.
In the study, which was published in March in peer-reviewed International Journal of Current Research in Life Sciences, groundwater samples from riverbed mining areas in Mohand Rao watershed in Haridwar district were assessed. Mohand Rao is a seasonal river mined for sand, gravel and boulders for use in construction.
The researchers found that while water quality parameters of pH (acidity) and alkalinity and other physicochemical characteristics were within the permissible limits, calcium and magnesium levels were above the permissible limits. Calcium and magnesium dissolved in water turn it hard and therefore unfit for drinking.
Researchers said that high levels of calcium and magnesium indicated that excessive mining has exposed unweathered material to weathering. Weathering of rock causes these ions to seep through the soil and find their way into the groundwater.
The study samples were collected between October 2017 and January 2018. The study found that water quality index (WQI) for the sample collected from a bore well at 225 ft depth indicated ‘poor’ quality. WQI calculated values for water samples from depth of 180 ft and 80 ft indicated ‘very poor’ quality of water.
“In areas where mining is taking place, environmental challenges like pollution of groundwater and decline of aquifer levels have occurred,” said study supervisor Nitin Kamboj, assistant professor at department of zoology and environmental science, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya.
Kamboj told TOI that high calcium levels in drinking water could lead to kidney stones while higher intake of magnesium may cause irregular heartbeat, slow breathing and confusion.
The researcher said that there was an urgent need for authorities to take steps towards maintaining and sustaining groundwater quality.
Shalini Sharma and Vishal Kamboj, research scholars involved in the study, said, “For sustainable mining, the amount of sand extracted should be that which can be replenished by nature. Mining depth has to be restricted to 3 metres. In the study area, we found large pits which showed that sand extraction was much more than the replenishment rate hinting towards mining malpractices.”
Notably, mining in the Ganga river and its tributaries in the district has been banned by the National Green Tribunal. The green panel had banned illegal mining of minor minerals like sand in seven permitted sites in Haridwar in 2015 after a plea that illegal mining was damaging the environment and ecology of the river and also affecting the movement of wildlife. At present, the Forest Research Institute is collecting data on riverbed material and will submit its report to the NGT.
