Delhi among top 3 states with most ‘contaminated sites’

The CPCB report released on Sunday said that there are over 112 sites in India that are contaminated by toxic and hazardous substances.

Delhi has featured third on a list of states and union territories with most contaminated sites, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

The list is topped by Odisha, which has 23 contaminated sites, followed by Uttar Pradesh, with 21 such sites in the state and Delhi, which has 11.

The CPCB report released on Sunday said that there are over 112 sites in India that are contaminated by toxic and hazardous substances. Apart from this, another 168 sites were identified that might be contaminated, but require investigation and confirmation, the report said.

The list is topped by Odisha, which has 23 contaminated sites, followed by Uttar Pradesh, with 21 such sites in the state and Delhi, which has 11.

Delhi’s 11 sites are Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfills, industrial areas in Jhilmil and Wazirpur, New Friends Colony (NFC), Dilshad Garden and Lawrence Road. Apart from these, there are another 12 spots under the “probably contaminated” list in the Capital.

According to the Union ministry of environment, contaminated sites are defined as delineated areas where the “constituents and characteristics of the toxic and hazardous substances, caused by humans, exist at levels and in conditions, which pose existing or imminent threats to health and environment”.

Such contamination may happen at production areas, landfills, dumps, waste storage and treatment sites, mine tailings sites, spill sites, chemical waste handler and storage sites where the waste is either of hazardous nature or has the potential of turning hazardous.

Delhi’s civic body officials refused to respond on the report.

According to submissions made to the National Green Tribunal by respective state governments last year, remediation work has been started to clean up 14 contaminated sites across seven states: Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and UP.

Shashank Shekhar, assistant professor, department of geology Delhi University, said, “Sites such as Ghazipur and Bhalswa are very old and have not been developed to scientifically to handle waste and as a result, the area’s soil and even groundwater have been severely contaminated. The lesson from this report should be that the same mistakes should not be made.”