This is what a study published in the Hyderabad-based International Journal Life Sciences Biotechnology and Pharma Research (IJLBPR) reveals.

The open-cast mine and some active and abandoned quarries have not complied with mining norms and standards of the country. There is extreme deforestation and exploitation of natural resources due to unscientific mining, says the on-going study by professor Devendra Pandey, who is based in Gondia.

“There are forest cover issues in Bhandara district. The state government will have to be extremely sensitive to the environment. The authorities are finding it difficult to operate as they are caught between the high court and Supreme Court’s orders. Eventually, they have to do what’s good for the society,” said chief secretary JK Banthia at a meeting recently.

Soil erosion, water scarcity, air pollution, reduction of soil fertility and loss of biodiversity are some of the problems of the area, states the study.

“Drinking water that gets contaminated with nitrates can prove fatal, especially for infants, who drink formula milk. It restricts the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain causing the Blue Baby Syndrome and is linked to digestive tract cancers in adults,” the study says.

Prof Pandey, who is also the head of the department of engineering geology at Manoharbhai Patel Institute of Engineering & Technology, added that chlorinated solvents discovered by researchers are linked to reproduction disorders and to some forms of cancer.

“In the area, we have also noticed fluorosis, which is a crippling and painful disease caused by intake of fluorides. We found that four persons in Bhandara have Parkinson’s due to high level of iron content,” Pandey, also a researcher, told dna.