A team of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) inspected the Thane creek under Navi Mumbai area on Thursday and collected water samples. The samples will be sent to the laboratory to check effluents and pollutants.
Officials from Regional MPCB said the team visited three locations of Thane creek in Navi Mumbai and collected water samples. They visited the creek in Vashi bridge, Koparkhairane and Ghansoli. After the visit, while talking to the media, the MPCB officials said that prima facie, they did not find pollutants. However, only the laboratory report will clear the exact conditions.
Earlier, on January 25, water samples collected by an NGO from the areas behind Kanjurmarg dumping ground and Bhandup pumping station were found to be highly polluted. Even dead fishes were also spotted while collecting the sample waters.
As per the report, the Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level of the water collected was as high as 78m mg/L. The safe level is 30 mg/L.
Even the effluent discharge point had over 24,040 mg/L which should be in the range of 2,000-5,000 mg/L. The NGO sought a high-level enquiry to check pollution and take necessary measures to restore the water quality.
While talking to the media, D B Patil, regional officer of MPCB said that the colour water does not show any pollutant and even the oxygen level was found satisfactory. They have also not found any dead fish.
He added that they collected three samples both up and downstream in the area around 2.5 km of the effluent discharge point. The water samples will be sent to MPCB Mhape lab and the report will come in a fortnight. The report will be published on the MPCB website and it will be accessible for everyone.
