Pollution in Vellore

Abstract

Vellore, also known as ‘fort city’ and a historical destination in southernmost India , is one of the fastest growing cities. This city is a hub for leather industries, chemical industries as well as automobile and mechanical industries.

It ranks 8 in the most polluted cities on the survey conducted by The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in conjunction with IIT-Delhi. The observation of pollution in this city was conducted with an aim to study the sources of pollution in the city and measures to control it. The observation of pollution was done by roaming around in the city between chittoor bus stand to new bus stand. The rapid industrial growth is responsible for the pollution.

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KEYWORDS: Historical destination, conjuction, pollution.

Introduction

Since the industrial revolution the world has witnessed the rapid expansion of its cities.

For years humans have been flocking to these urban centres in search of jobs, commodities, entertainment and other phenomenathat can commonly be found in cities. [1] Pollution of Environment or environmental pollution means making the environment foul. Our environment means the surrounding of our house where we live, the surrounding of our village where we live or the surrounding of our town or city where we live. If our surrounding gets polluted we suffer from many kinds of disease and sickness. If our surrounding gets highly polluted, our life gets endangered. [2] Modern evelopment processes, especially industrialization, have come in for a great deal of criticism for their utter disregard for the environment. Trash and garbage is a common sight in urban and rural areas of India. It is a major source of pollution. [3] Street corners are piled with trash. Public places and sidewalks are despoiled with filth and litter, rivers and canals act as garbage dumps. [4] Air pollution is a serious issue with the major sources being fuelwood and biomass burning, fuel adulteration, vehicle emission and traffic congestion. [5] In urban areas, vehicle emissions are another source of air pollution.

Vehicle emissions are worsened by fuel adulteration and poor fuel combustion effi   ciencies from traffic congestion and low density of quality, high speed road network per 1000 people.. [6] Rapid urbanization during the recent decades has given rise to a number of environmental problems such as water supply, waste water generation and its collection, treatment and disposal. Vellore city which came up on the bank of palar river have not given a proper thought to the problems of wastewater, sewerage etc. In urban areas, the wastewater is let out untreated and causes large scale water pollution. [7]

Methodology

To find out the source of the pollution and think over the measures to control it the region between chittoor bus stand and new bus stand of vellore city was selected as the locale for this study. The observation of the pollution was carried out by roaming around the streets. Photographs were taken out and normal discussion of source of pollution was done with local people. The local people were asked about the difficulties they face due to the pollution and how can we overcome this from their point of view. Use of internet and e-books were taken to study more about this problem and to check it.

Result

From the above study we came to know that the pollution in vellore city is no more different from other cities. The common sites seen were roadside garbage dumping, unhygienic area around water sources, air pollution due to emission of gases by vehicles, accumulation of solid waste and poor sanitation. This problem is common to almost every city in India. The common traditional known sources of air pollution are power plants, industries, road dust, construction work, garbage burning, vehicle exhaust and domestic fuels. The sources of land pollution are garbage dumping and improper disposal of solid waste.

The sources of water pollution are sewage discharge from industries, poor sanitation, disposal of waste in water sources and religious sources.

Discussions and Findings

The important landmarks that come between old chittoor bus stand of vellore to new bus stand of vellore are Pillayar koil, thiru nagar, silk mill, gandhinagar, doordarshan, virthumpet and new bridge road over the palar river. Problems related to city: Use of tetrapacks, plastic plates, cups and bags, tin cans and similar throw-away items has increased in the last decade.

Lack of proper waste collection, segregation and management systems and poor sanitary conditions are aggravating health problems. The reason for the contamination of the ground water in Vellore is because the tanneries are dumping their effluents into city’s lifeline—the Palar River. All the tanneries here from Vaniampadi to Ranipet dump their effluents into the river. [8] Problem related to palar river bed: The Palar River bed is dry most of the year because it is a seasonal river. It stirs to life every year during the monsoon. When the river is devoid of water the riverbed is quarried for its 15 feet of sand.

Palar is the primary source of drinking water for the residents of Vellore. But those who live in this city made famous by the super speciality hospital, Christian Medical College, say that the clear water of Palar has turned into blood red. A local environment group, Pasumai Thayagam, affirms that the red toxic water has destroyed sources of potable drinking water in various localities of Vellore like Ambur, Vaniampadi and Ranipet. Measures taken by government to check pollution in vellore: Exnora Green Cross, supported by UNICEF, initiated a pilot project on solid waste management in a ward of Vellore municipality in 2000.

ZWM [Zero Waste Management] is a system of managing solid wastes that strives for maximum waste recovery through recycling and reuse, aiming at zero waste generation.

• It minimizes pollution of ground water and air by doing away with disposal of wastes at dumpsites and land? lls.
• Zero waste management integrates the informal recycling sector (ragpickers and waste collectors) into the solid waste management system providing opportunities for income generation.

Possible measures that can be taken:

Conversion of waste paper into pepwood: Conversion of waste paper into pulp articles is an old art. We can reduce garbage by recycling the waste paper in a decentralized manner. It will help in prevention of burning of waste paper & ? lthy sights. Women/SHG members/unemployed youths/after receiving thorough training can undertake this activity.

1. Liquid Waste Management through Root Zone Treatment: Under the liquid waste management practices at community level, the waste water from toilets is being treated naturally through “Root Zone Treatment Method (Natural plant based system)”. The treated water (5500 liter per day for 50 person’s occupancy) is recycled for toilet flushing and landscaping purposes.
2. Eco Friendly plastic fuel [Conversion of waste plastic into liquid hydrocarbons/ energy]: Prof. Mrs. Alka Umesh Zadgaonkar, Head of Department of Applied Chemistry at the Nagpur based G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, invented an Environment friendly catalyticadditive process for disposal of waste plastic. The invented process involves degradation of waste plastic using `catalytic-additive’ and is different from the generally existing pyrolytic processes. The products obtained in the process are Liquid hydrocarbons, Gas and residual Coke. It is a major breakthrough in the arena of non-conventional sources of energy!
3. Black water management from community toilet: EXNORA International Chennai, through its unit in Tiruchi District, has taken up construction of Decentralized Waste Water Treatment System (DEWATS), which is ideally suited for small colonies, apartments, slum areas etc. Salient features: • Decentralized treatment of black water.

• Reuse of treated water for raising trees, vegetables.
• Use of biogas for cooking and lighting.
• No Electricity or chemical is used for treatment. Very easy for operation and maintenance since it does not have hazardous or complicated machinery.

Conclusion

Urbanisation brings prosperity but at the same time creates environmental problems like pollution, accumulation of solid waste and poor sanitation. . In this context, solid waste management is an area of challenge and of innovation for urban planners and city corporations. A zero waste management (ZWM) project by NGO Exnora Green Cross, initially piloted with UNICEF, in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district is an example of a successful solid waste management programme and its bene? s.

References

1. “The little green data book”. The world bank. 2010.
2. “Environment assessment, Country data: India” , The world bank. 2011.
3. Radhakanta Swain, Essay.
4. “Drowning in a sea of garbage”, New York times. April 2010.
5. Atmanand et al. (2009). "Energy and Sustainable Development-An Indian Perspective". World Academy of Science.
6.  “Urban air pollution, catching gasoline and diesel adulteration”. World bank 2002.
7. Krishnakumar Asha, 1995. Streams of poison.
8. V. K. Shashikumar, Tehelka magazine, 16 july 2005

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