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This is an archive article published on August 1, 2000

Lali villagers pay a high price for fresh drinking water

LALI (Kheda dist), JULY 31: You are offered plastic water pouches when you visit this village. Not that the villagers of Lali have forgott...

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LALI (Kheda dist), JULY 31: You are offered plastic water pouches when you visit this village. Not that the villagers of Lali have forgotten their traditional hospitality: the ground-reality is that the water they get is not potable and the conditions have worsened over the last two decades.

The non-descript village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad has been facing an acute water problem. A study conducted recently shows that the underground water of the area contains 0.211 milligrams of mercury per litre, which is more than 200 times the permissible limit. Effluents from the industrials estates of Vatva, Naroda and Odhav, flow along the village, resulting in both atmospheric and ground pollution of horrendous proportions. As the village has no other source of water, the people use polluted water for drinking and irrigation.

Says Kanubhai Patel, member of the village panchayat, “We have been facing this problem since 1978. There is no respite from our sufferings.” Pointing at old and rusted asbestos roofs, Kanubhai said, “These sheets were changed only a year ago and have been damaged by the acidic wind which blows from the canal.”

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The copper vessels of the villagers have turned black and become distorted due to the reaction of dissolved chemicals in the underground water. Steel vessels have survived the chemicals’ onslaught, but they have lost their shine. All bores in the village have coloured water, ranging from pink, yellow to murky-brown at times.

Bharat Patel, a farmer, has skin ulcers all over the his feet and hands, which are now spreading over his face and other parts of his body. Bharat’s skin has been affected as he has to wade through polluted water in his field. He said, “I have been taking treatment from the village doctor, but when I stop taking the medicines and go back to work these ulcers appear again.”

Bharat’s is not an isolated case. Vasu Raval too is suffering from ulcers. However, Raval does not want to talk about them. “What use will it be? They are going to grow as the water contamination is going to increase each passing day,” he remarked.

The village has only one `medical practitioner’, who does not have a proper degree. His dispensary was closed when The Indian Express team visited the village.

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Humans were not the only victims. “Two of my buffaloes have skin ulcers and other two have become infertile,”, a farmer, Raman Patel,said. The cattle, which once procreated within 12 to 15 months, have not been able to conceive for over three years now, villagers complained.

Bipin Patel, Chairman of the Vatwa GIDC Common Effluent Treatment Plant, however, claimed that the effluents released in the vicinity of Lali village were treated properly as per the stipulations of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board. Asked about the high mercury-content in the water, he said, “I am not aware of anything like that but the effluent is treated at our plant.”

Once having a population of over 5,000, Lali has shrunk to a population of 3,200, as families have shifted out of the village on account of rampant problem of water-contamination. Ramnik Patel said, “All rich farmers who could afford moving out did that and have settled in the nearby areas in Ahmedabad, Anand and Kheda and travel frequently to tend to their crops. Those left behind are not so well off farmers and farm workers.”

Hasmukh Patel, former general secretary of the Kheda district BJP said, “I have shifted out of the village due to the problem of water contamination. Three of my four brothers have moved out and the remaining one will leave the village soon.” He added that although leaving the village of their ancestors was a painful experience, they had no choice.

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An environmentalist said, “It has been a common practice in the area around to pump effluents into the ground which has contaminated the entire water table beyond repair.”

During the recent heavy rain, the effluent canal overflowed, flooding the fields with acidic waste, which destroyed more than 15 beeghas of land with standing crops. Mahendra Patel lost his entire yield for the season. Said a pensive Mahendra, “I have to start all over again as the crops of the season have been destroyed and that is my sole source of income.” Several farmers have met the same fate.

During these 20 years, numerous Ministers and politicians have visited the village and made lofty promises. Among them were Chimanbhai Patel, Shankarsinh Vaghela and Ashok Bhatt. As the promises have remained unkept, the villagers are bitter.

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