Watch where vegetables grow

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Millions of Indians are facing a new health risk. Increasing water scarcity is forcing farmers to grow vegetables and fodder using untreated sewage waste water across urban and rural cities.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FAAI) has in the past issued several warnings on pesticide residues and crop contaminants, including aflatoxins, patulin and ochratoxin in Indian fruit and vegetables. These pesticides are known to adversely effect the nervous system and can result in lung damage and cancer

But the use of untreated sewage water is also known to trigger off several health and environmental-related diseases.

A recent study undertaken by TERI warns against untreated sewage in the Yamuna which is choking the river and is a threat to people consuming vegetables grown along the river front.

The study highlighted how Delhi is generating 650 million gallons of sewage per day, but only half of this gets treated at the sewage treatment plants. It warned against how industrial toxins have also been found to be polluting both the groundwater and soil and have found entry into the food chain.

Water samples from the Yamuna show high levels of nickel, manganese, lead and mercury.

Mr J.S. Sarma, CEO of the Rainfed Area Authority under the Planning Commission has repeatedly warned on the immediate need for the government to ensure the setting up of sewage treatment plants in both rural and urban India. At present, only 35 per cent of the total sewage being generated in the country is treated.

The problem is that smaller farmers with little access to irrigated water have no option but to use the untreated sewage water which has been found to contain micro-nutrients.

The World Health Organisation in a recent study has found that rising fertiliser cost has forced almost 200 million farmers, largely in India and China to depend on untreated sewage water.

When such water is used in agriculture, farmers and their customers risk absorbing disease-causingbacteria. Nearly 2.2 million people die each year because of diarrhoea-related diseases, including cholera.

More than 80 per cent of these cases can be attributed to contact with contaminated water. India is the third largest user of waste water in irrigation after China and Mexico.