Groundwater that glows yellow-green in U.P.
Residents in parts of Uttar Pradesh are suffering from health issues linked to groundwater contaminated with hexavalent chromium. Government data confirms that a significant majority of people in the affected districts have chromium levels exceeding permissible limits.
Why it matters
This highlights a severe public health crisis caused by industrial pollution and the failure of environmental regulations to protect essential water sources.
Patches of earth streaked a fluorescent greenish-yellow flank of National Highway 19 that connects the Kanpur Nagar and Fatehpur districts in Uttar Pradesh. Off the highway, a culvert also has yellow leaching on it. On the dirt road towards Chhiwali village in Fatehpur, the markings persist. They lead to Daya Devi’s home, down a mud path.
Part of the concrete roof of 40-year-old Devi’s two-room house is falling in. That’s not her only problem, though. The mother of two children is more worried about her stomach pains and digestion.
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