Gujarat govt claims Sabarmati river is pollution free...

GANDHINAGAR: Pollution in the Sabarmati River is an open secret, but the state government conveniently chooses to remain impervious to the reality. This allegation was levelled after the state environment minister claimed that no industrial pollution has been observed in the river water. Ironically, this is despite the government’s own recent budgetary allocation to establish a new deep-sea pipeline to control pollution in the river!


Congress whip in the state assembly and MLA from Danilimda, Shailesh Parmar, asked environment minister Ganpatsinh Vasava in a starred question about Sabarmati river being polluted by effluents from the industrial units in Vatva and other industries in the city. Parmar wanted to know what actions had been taken up the government so far to control pollution in the river. In his written reply, Vasava said that pollution in the Sabarmati River by Vatva industrial estate has not been noticed in the past two years. “A joint treatment plant there to treat the effluent water is functional.

Gujarat Pollution Control Board

(GPCB) Vatva unit also regularly monitors the area,” he said.

Parmar said that he and the local people have submitted video and photographic evidence of Vatva and other industries directly polluting the Sabarmati River. “Despite this, the government is giving false information in the House. Officials of the GPCB and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) are accepting hefty bribes to let the industrial effluent flow into the river,” he alleged.

Earlier, the government had proposed formation of dedicated SPV (special purpose vehicle) to control pollution in the Sabarmati River. However, the matter did not move further with no mechanism in place yet to effectively solve the issue.

River pollution not only damages the ecology but also affects human and animal health adversely. Farmers regularly complain of damage pollution does to their land.