TOXIC TRACE ELEMENT POLLUTION IN GROUND WATERS AROUND PATANCHERU AND BOLARAM INDUSTRIAL AREAS, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA: A GRAPHICAL APPROACH

Patancheru and Bolaram are satellite industrial towns nearHyderabad with over 300 large andmedium scale pharmaceutical, heavy engineering, paints, paperand chemical factories. The industriesof the area generate a cumulative 8 × 10⁶ l/day ofeffluents which are being directly dischargedon to surrounding land, irrigation fields, and surface waterbodies which finally enter into theNakkavagu River a tributary of the Manzira River. The presentstudy on abundance and distributionpattern of toxic trace elements indicates the quantitativeaspect of pollution in the Nakkavagu Basin.Migration patterns drawn for TDS, toxic elements such as Cu,As, Se, Zn, B, Cr and iron indicate thatpollutants discharged by the industries are entering thesurface and groundwater system (aquifers) andare also migrating towards the Manzira River furtherdeteriorating the entire hydrological setup of the area.Entry and dispersion of pollutants in the hydrological systemis shown by distribution diagrams. Aconservative estimate indicates that the effect of pollutantson the agricultural lands and water bodiesextends 0.25 to 0.5 km to either side of the Nakkavagu Riverover a length of 25 km. In addition tothis, the movement of pollutants with ground water in thedownstream direction worsened thehydrological system and increased the possibility ofgeo-accumulation of pollutants in biota. Openwells, dug wells and tanks have become useless and redundantas the concentrations of Cu, Se, As,B, Cr and Fe have increased to 5 to 10 times the permissiblelimits. Several villages have beenaffected by the toxic pollutants in the area. The groundwatersystem is polluted over a large area asshown in elemental migration diagrams and is not potable.Tentatively an area of 20 sq km can becategorized as the worst affected by various pollutants.