India Projects and Reports

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.