British biologist Jeremy Wade sparked online discussions after he shared a video of Kanpur tanneries dumping hazardous waste into the sacred Ganga River. Wade, widely known for the show River Monstersthe television presenter, author and biologist, raised the alarm over the release of toxic waste, such as chromium, lead and arsenic, into the river.
The caption to the post on Instagram reads, ‘You can smell it before you see it!’ The $12 billion leather industry that is dumping toxic waste into the Ganges.”
Pointing to 6-foot-high heaps of leather strewn across Kanpur’s streets, Wade speaks in the video about the environmental impact of industrial waste. As per the documentary, Kanpur houses several hundred tanneries, and its leather industry is worth around $12 billion per year.
Describing the pungent smell of sewage from the industrial wastewater, he said that the smell of “black water” is so strong that the smell hits the “back of your throat” when one stands close to it.
Studies have shown that chromium exposure causes lung cancer, respiratory damage (asthma, bronchitis), and skin ulcers. He further revealed that a part of the water released from these tanneries is used for irrigation, while the rest is released in the river.
He asked a local tea seller about the quality of water, who said, “The pipe water here is disgusting, it makes everyone sick. It not only makes stomach upset but also affects eyesight and causes hair loss.”
Asserting that none of the toxic wastes from tanneries is treated and released directly into the river, the 69-year-old TV presenter said, “This is all on its way down towards the river, a part from some of it which is taken off into irrigation canals and towards farmland.”
‘Cocktail of deadly chemicals’
“On the one hand, we worship the river, and on the other hand, we make it filthy,” another local said while speaking to Wade. He added, “This is coming directly from the tanneries, a cocktail of deadly chemicals. The amount of wastewater is going up every day. We can see the pollution, we can smell it, but a few kilometers from Kanpur it dissolves, then disappears, invisible.”
Concluding the clip, a voice-over in the video: “Every day, more than 50 million gallons of industrial waste is illegally dumped into the Ganges while most of it dissolves out of sight.”
In another video, Wade demonstrated the level of contamination through a simple water test.
Using a container primed with chemicals that change colour, he tested a sample of Ganga water and compared the results with those of mineral water. When he tested the Ganga water, it turned light brown, indicating the presence of contaminants. “It means fecal coliform bacteria. Basically, the water here is full of human waste,” he said.
