Solve pollution. Save lives. Protect the planet.

SOLVING POLLUTION IN

India

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Delhi Office
Mezzanine Floor, DLF Centre, Savitri Cinema Complex, Greater Kailash 2, New Delhi-110048

Chennai Office
2nd Fl., ABC Complex, Sunny Side,1st Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Chennai- 600020, Tamilnadu, (South) India.

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Our Team
Dr. Subrata Dutta

Country Director
[email protected]

PROMILA SHARMA MALIK

India Programs Director
[email protected]

SANDEEP DAHIYA

Director Advocacy and Communications
[email protected]

DR. JAYAPRIYA DHANDAPANI

Program Manager

KUMAR BHASKAR

Program Officer

A BHASKAR RAJ

Program Associate

ANNU SHARMA

Admin & Finance Officer

Featured Stories

Element of Mystery: Half the children in India are poisoned by lead. Why has the country failed to prevent it despite knowing the sources and treatment?
CNBC India Covers National Lead Poisoning Crisis
India’s Lead Crisis: A Call to Action
The Toxic Truth
REPORT: Assessment of Lead Impact on Humans and India's Response
Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022
Lead Exposer In India
2021/22 Annual Report
Managing Used Lead Acid Batteries in India- Evaluation of EPR-DRS Approaches
Karmalichak, Bihar _ India _ One Slide Case Study (1)
Bihar, India: How we celebrated a community and helped them take action on lead poisoning
Looking For Lead? No Problem!
In Bihar, Toxic Lead 150 Times Over Limit

 

 

ENGLISH

About Pure Earth India

Pure Earth has been active in India since 2004. Since then, Pure Earth and its local partners have identified 716 contaminated sites, and completed rapid screening assessments at 500 of these. Pure Earth has also conducted a number of risk-reduction projects across India and has engaged with the government on a variety of pollution issues. In recent years, Pure Earth’s focus in India has centered on lead (Pb) contamination.

Pure Earth is currently developing non-assessment activities in India that directly result from our in-depth assessment of lead contamination through the TSIP. These activities are designed to advance a national effort to further formalize the lead-acid battery recycling industry and substantially reduce the volume of lead that enters the environment and the bodies of children in surrounding communities.

One of the primary sources of lead poisoning for children in India is the informal recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULAB), primarily car batteries. Nationally, lead poisoning is widespread among India’s children. Existing studies estimate that Indian children under 12 have a mean blood lead level (BLL) of 10 µg/dl. It is estimated that diminished IQ in lead-poisoned children results in a loss of $236.1 billion (12.5% of India’s GDP) in economic productivity every year.

Read more.

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Cleaning up lead pollution, protecting school children in Karlmalichak, India
Video credit: Thomas Cristofoletti/USAID

Click to view video in Hindi

THE MULTI-PRONGED STRATEGY INCLUDES:

• Creation of policy recommendations to improve the effectiveness of India’s Battery Management/Handling Rules and its enforcement;

• Research to illustrate the health and economic damage caused by informal battery recycling;

• Four community-based programs to improve industrial practices and remediate lead contamination; and

• A public education campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of lead exposure.Pure Earth has convened key stakeholders in the public and private sectors who have agreed to update current battery management policies and participate in a study on sources of lead in Bihar.

The first community-based risk mitigation project was launched in Patna in the state of Bihar in 2017. A community education campaign and lead remediation was completed in 2018. Post-intervention blood lead tests of the affected children are underway. Efforts to relocate informal recyclers operating in residential area to an industrial cluster zone is in the planning stages.

In February 2020, Pure Earth completed the first lead source apportionment study carried out in India.

Projects

Ongoing  Projects:

• Toxic Sites Identification Program

Completed Projects:

• Bicchadi – Groundwater Contamination

• Jodhpur, Pali and Balotra – Rajasthan – Industrial Waste Management

• Vellore: Lead Poisoning Assessment in Tamil Nadu

• Amlakhadi River

• Aruputo Chromium Contamination Assessment

• Chinhat Lindane Manufacturing Industries

• Daurala Groundwater Contamination

• Eloor

• Gujarat Stakeholders Group

• Hema Chemicals Chromium Waste

• Kanpur Groundwater Pollution

• Mini River Project

• Muthia Village Vermiculture

• Nandesari

• Orissa Abandoned hazardous waste dumpsite

• Pali Dyeing Industries

• Panki Katra Fly Ash Contamination

• Picnic Gardens/Tiljala

• Ranipet Tannery Waste

• Roro Hills Legacy Asbestos Mines

• Sukinda Valley

• Vapi Industrial Estate

• Wah-Umkrah River

• Childhood Lead Exposure and Source Identification Study‚ Patna

• Lead Cleanup in Karmalichak

• TSIP Regional Training- New Delhi

Programmatic Solutions

Research on Lead Sources
Research on Lead Sources

Pure Earth has convened key stakeholders in the public and private sectors who have agreed to update current battery management policies and participate in a study on sources of lead in Bihar. This research illustrates the health and economic damage caused by informal battery recycling.

Toxic Site Assessments
Toxic Site Assessments

Pure Earth has been active in India since 2004. Since then, Pure Earth and its local partners have identified 716 contaminated sites, and completed rapid screening assessments at 500 of these. Pure Earth is currently developing non-assessment activities in India that directly result from our in-depth assessment of lead contamination through the TSIP. 

Lead Remediation Program
Lead Remediation Program

The first community-based risk mitigation project was launched in Patna in the state of Bihar in 2017. A community education campaign and lead remediation project were completed in 2018. Post-intervention blood lead tests of the affected children are underway. Efforts to relocate informal recyclers operating in a residential area to an industrial cluster zone is in the planning stages. There are now four community-based programs to improve industrial practices and remediate lead contamination.

Advocacy and Campaigns
Advocacy and Campaigns

Pure Earth India has created policy recommendations to improve the effectiveness of India’s Battery Management/Handling Rules and their enforcement.

Pure Earth also utilizes public education campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of lead exposure.

Check back for updates on ongoing campaigns.

Events

International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

October 24-30th, 2021

Seminar: Understanding Lead Poisoning Prevalence in India

October 11th, 2022, 03:00 – 05:00 PM (IST)

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News Coverage

 

 

Stay up to date with our work:

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Knowledge Materials

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Find public education materials and research:

Blog Posts

Read more about our work in India:

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Reports

India Country Report 2018
Jodhpur, Pali, and Balotra-Rajasthan — Industrial Waste Management Report
Gujarat Stakeholders Group Report
Kanpur Groundwater Pollution Report
Muthia Village Vermiculture Report
Panki Katra Fly Ash Contamination Report
Wah-Umkrah River Report

Our Partners and Donors

  • Public Health Foundation of India
  • India Society for Lead Awareness and Research
  • India Lead-Zinc Development Association
  • NITI-Aayog
  • MOEFCC
  • CPCB
  • International Lead Association
  • World Economic Forum’s Global Battery Alliance
  • USAID
  • UNIDO
  • ERM
  • Trafigura Foundation 
  • GiveWell