Residents of Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, and Fatehpur districts have been found to be suffering from serious health issues, including respiratory ailments and neurological disorders, due to pollution from nearby tanneries. These alarming findings emerged after medical check-ups were conducted under the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The issue came to light when the NGT made the Uttar Pradesh Medical Health and Family Welfare Department a party to an ongoing petition regarding environmental pollution caused by the discharge of untreated effluents from tanneries in Kanpur.
Following a January 30 order, the Uttar Pradesh Government has been instructed to take immediate action to address environmental and health concerns.
The tribunal has mandated several measures, including:
- Blood sampling in heavily polluted areas of Kanpur city and rural regions.
- Heavy metal analysis for contaminants such as chromium, mercury, and fluoride.
- Improvement of government hospital facilities, including the addition of multi-speciality diagnostic services.
- Creation of an action plan for medical aid to victims suffering from heavy metal contamination.
A tribunal bench comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Judicial Member Arun Kumar Tyagi, and Expert Member Afroz Ahmad passed this directive after reviewing the health reports.
According to a report submitted by the Secretary of the UP Medical Health and Family Welfare Department, health camps set up in polluted areas such as Rakhi Mandi and Afeem Kothi in Kanpur Nagar detected dangerously high levels of chromium and mercury in residents’ blood samples. Immediate medical intervention was recommended.
The report also revealed that similar health camps in Kanpur Dehat uncovered respiratory problems, neurological disorders, behavioral changes, and skin diseases. Additionally, the J K Cancer Institute in Kanpur Nagar was found to lack essential in-house facilities for heavy metal testing.
Based on the NGT’s recommendations, the UP Government will conduct extensive surveys to assess the sources and impact of heavy metal contamination. This includes:
- Surveying chromium, mercury, fluoride, and iron contamination in the ecosystem.
- Mapping old and new chromium and mercury dump sites.
- Studying contamination in humans, cattle, and the food chain to design effective remediation strategies.
To ensure a thorough investigation, the UP Government will collaborate with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (Lucknow), Central Groundwater Board, Central Pollution Control Board, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The NGT has been monitoring the issue since 2019, overseeing the scientific disposal of chromium dumps in Rania (Kanpur Dehat) and Rakhi Mandi (Kanpur Nagar). These waste sites have been polluting groundwater since 1976. Additionally, the tribunal has been actively tracking industrial effluent discharge from the Jajmau tannery cluster.
Kanpur’s Jajmau tannery cluster, established in 1946, houses nearly 400 tanneries covering an area of 7.431 sq km. The proximity of these tanneries to the Ganga River (50 meters to 1 km) raises further environmental concerns. The smallest tannery spans 100 sq meters, while the largest covers 34,500 sq meters.
