This is the story of a river flowing through a village in North Bengal and reaching Bangladesh. It has several fisheries along its bank, but they are at risk from toxic, untreated factory effluents that have recently been introduced into the river Panga.
The only factory in the region is a Coca-Cola bottling plant constructed in 2000. The groundwater that recharged the farms used to be clean and transparent, until a new automatic plant was built in the factory in March this year. Soon after, a trial was run and untreated waste was illegally released into the river. This resulted in scores of dead fish and freshwater eels floating on the waters of the Panga.
At first the locals did not read much into it, since every year in March some locals steal pesticides from the adjacent tea gardens and spray it along a small area on the river bank to kill fish. These are then sold to local markets. That this recent mass fish death was not due to the suspected reason and that it had much more far reaching consequences were realised by locals perhaps a little too late.
The area’s biodiversity, the first to take the brunt of chemical manipulations, indicated the extent of the harm caused. The nervous system of frogs were affected and they could not move, even to evade their predator – the snake. Crustaceans like crabs and molluscs like freshwater snails started disappearing. A thriving water bird community also left the spot.
However, the gravity of the situation was unperceived till a massive earthquake struck North Bengal in April this year. This resulted in the mixing of groundwater and the polluted surface water of the river. This was a fatal blow for the fisheries and hundreds of dead bloated fish started surfacing.
Scientists who rushed to the spot at the behest of the local fishery owners immediately noticed a pungent smell dominating the riverine environment. Brown aquatic weeds along the river bank meant that massive levels of sodium hydroxide were released into the river. This chemical burns live cells. It burnt the aquatic weeds and the hyacinth. They also found high levels of hydrochloric acid and formalin. Apart from the river and biodiversity, these toxins affected local people who were dependent on the river. Burnt, pus-filled patches started becoming a common feature on their skins.
Children who had to cross the river to reach their school on the other bank had the same symptoms as did cattle that drank from the river.
This region has 52 species of indigenous freshwater fish, including uncommon varieties like nona tangra and the golden pabda. Fishery owners used to breed these varieties along with freshwater shrimps, pied fish (a schedule I species) and the coveted golden mahaseer. But now many fisheries have lost their brood stocks – results of their lifelong dedication and experience. Many have incurred losses up to Rs 65 lakh.
Normal water in the river has a specific conductivity of 22-30 microsiemen, which helps in osmoregulation of fish. Now the water has an abnormally high conductivity of 269 microsiemen that is fatal for fish because it bursts their internal organs. The total dissolved solid (t.d.s) is a shocking 1,725 ppm.
Hence, the oxygen level in the river is as good as nil. Consequently, the phytoplankton and zooplankton community has been desiccated. Studies have shown that fish subjected to this level of t.d.s. died in just 30 seconds in laboratory experiments.
Can Culprits Be Punished?
The right to healthy environment has been construed as part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. To add to that, India was a participating nation at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio De Janeiro in June 1992. Due to an international obligation during this conference significant steps were taken. National laws regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and environmental damage, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act, was conceived in 2010.
Within the purview of the NGT, any development project must continuously evolve environmental improvement through redesigning processes while development is undertaken. Environmental damage as a result of these projects should be anticipated beforehand and prevented. Where there are threats of serious damage, lack of scientific certainty cannot be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent degradation. The onus will thus be on the developer to show that his actions are environmentally benign. Failing this, under Section 20 of the Act, the party responsible for producing pollution has to pay for the damage done, which may include injury, sickness, medical expenses incurred for treatment, damages to private property, damage to milch, draught animals and aquatic fauna, destruction of aquatic flora, damage to environment including soil, air, water, land and ecosystem and loss of business.
If the company fails to comply with the Tribunal’s order, it shall be punishable with a minimum penalty of Rs 25 crore. If the failure continues, an additional penalty of Rs 1 lakh for each day of such contravention will be levied.