Years of pollution spills from the abandoned Tamilnadu Chromates Chemicals LTD plant in the center of Ranipet. Hundreds of tons of chromium sulfates are strewn about the abandoned facility. Rain washes the toxic chromium compounds into local groundwater.
Country Summary
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. These activities include a risk-reduction intervention in a community in Bihar State where informal battery manufacturing next to an elementary school has poisoned local children, a program to collectivize informal battery workers to improve their operations and reduce lead emissions, a lead source apportionment study to evaluate the relative contribution of informal battery recycling to elevated blood-lead levels, and a national program to improve the effectiveness of India’s Battery Management and Handling Rules.
Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health- India Summary
Pollution is responsible for 24.5% of deaths in India. Learn more about how pollution affects health and the economy in India by reading the India Summary Report, based on the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health.
Country and Project 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
Project Pages
- Projects in Progress: Lead Cleanup in Patna, Bihar
- Completed Projects:
- Bicchadi – Groundwater Contamination
- Jodhpur, Pali and Balotra – Rajasthan – Industrial Waste Management
- 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
- TSIP Regional Training- New Delhi
Blog Posts
Read more about our work in India at The Pollution Blog
- Bihar, India: How we celebrated a community, and helped them take action on lead poisoning (March 2019)
- Looking For Lead? No Problem! (June 2017)
- In Bihir, Toxic Lead 150 Times Over Limit (Feb 2016)
- India’s Lead Problem: More Than Just Instant Noodles (June 2015)
- Two Studies Reveal the Risks of India’s Unseen Pollution Menace (Nov 2014)
- Report from India: Lead Battery Recycling in the Right and Wrong Way (Feb 2014)
- Paying for Pollution Cleanup in India with a Small Benefit (May 2013)
- India’s Amazing Pollution Story (April 2013)
- A Solution To India’s Pollution Nightmare (Jan 2012)
- Pink Crocodiles and the New Front Against Pollution in India (Mar 2010)
- Off to India to Speak about Pollution and Economic Development (Mar 2010)
