Assam refinery discharging effluents in Brahmaputra tributary: Green activist

Environmental activist raises concerns over hazardous effluent discharge from Assam refinery, threatening Brahmaputra River ecosystem.

GUWAHATI

A refinery in eastern Assam’s Golaghat district has been discharging hazardous effluents into a tributary of the Brahmaputra River, endangering its fragile aquatic ecosystem, an environmental activist said.

In a letter to the Member-Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on April 2, Golaghat town-based Apurba Ballav Goswami sought a probe into the effluent treatment practices of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and its compliance with the board’s updated pollution standards.

He appended a report by a private biosciences laboratory analysing a water sample reportedly collected from the NRL’s effluent treatment plant on March 11.

“The results reveal an exceedance of CPCB effluent discharge standards for petroleum oil refineries under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, and subsequent guidelines, with severe implications for aquatic life and the long-term health of the Dhansiri River,” the letter read.

Mr. Goswami said the analysis highlighted violations such as 18.0 mg/litre of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 142.0 mg/litre of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and 11.5 mg/litre of oil and grease. The CPCB limits are 15 mg/litre, 125.0 mg/litre, and 10 mg/litre, respectively.

He said the readings signal a potential pattern of pollution that threatens the Dhansiri River’s biodiversity and the communities that depend on it.