Investigation of Heavy Metal Contaminations In Groundwater Around Landfill Site In Bhopal City, Mp

Bhopal, the capital city of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, with an area of over 550 km2 and a population of 1.4 million, is a city still expanding. The site under review was previously an abandoned stone quarry, which later braved as a dumping site for MSW, with improper leached collection system. Presently, it looks like a hillock (15-20 m height) with even increasing heap of MSWs. The general composition of waste is as follows : Organic matter 63% proper 7 % plastic, rubber, leather, and synthetic 8 %, metal 5 % inert matter 9 % and glass 8 % (BMC 2003 year), out of which organic matter produces large amount of leachates.Consequently, the leachate production is high organically complex in nature and continously growing. The instant effects of MSW decomposition are a foul and stinking smell felt from a distance and breeding of houseflies, vermin and pathogens besides a very unpleasant sprawl " Pur Bhanpura and Rasal kheri are the two villages in this area severely affected due to leachate contamination in soil and ground water, unhygienic drinking water and garbage induced diseases, like dysentery, cholera, and hepatitis, are frequently reported in their villages during monsoon season. Therefore, the present work on the geochemistry of leachate as well as groundwater from the study area were conducted. The exponential growth in population (particularly after the establishment of BHEL in 1950), industry, urbanization and living standards has put immense pressures on the solid waste management system of the local municipal body. As a common waste disposal practices in many metropolises, strucks from different parts of Bhopal collect and bring solid wastes to the outskirt areas and unload in an irregular fashion. These solid waste sites generate highly contaminated leachate and pollute the groundwater resources in their vicinities. The proposed study attempts to evaluate the present geochemical status of groundwater in and around Bhopal city with an emphasis on the impact of landfill sites on water quality. The planned study is important in successful water resource management and prevention of health hazards.

The study area lies between latitude 23°10'-23°22'N and longitude 77°15'-77°30' E on the survey of India Toposheet Nos 55E/7and 55E/8 covering an area of about 550 Km2. The study area is occupied by Vindhyan forming hill ranges and the Deccan Traps occupying the valley. A number of hills surround the upper Lake, out of which singarcholi hill, near Lal Ghati is highest an elevation of 625 m above mean sea level (MSL) Climate in this area is semi-arid with an average annual rainfall of 240 mm. June to September in the period of rainy season with areas. The total area available for MSW dumping site is about 75 acre

In an effort to study the extent of groundwater contamination, 24 (Twenty five) Sampling points were selected within 500 km of landfill site from where the groundwater samples were taken (Figure 2) Detail of the sampling points are presented in Map no. 1 & 2. The samples were collected in 1 litre capacity pre-cleaned polyethylene container after the extraction of water either from a hand pump, a dugwell or a tube-well at the beginning of the May 2012. The water was left to run from the source for about 4 min. to equate the minimum number of well volume and to stabilize the electrical conductivity (Mor et al., 2006) The samples for organic pollutant were aseptically taken in 50 ml sterlize universal containers.

Heavy metals : The heavy metals analyzed are Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn (Table no 2 & 4). High concentration of Pb, Ni and Zn suggest that the waste are mainly of municipal arising containing refused batteries, paints product, metallic items and fluorescents lamps. The Al concentrations are results of electronic waste and aluminum foils. The high range of iron is an indicative of the dumping of metal scarp and tin based garbage at the dumping site. The dark brown colour of the leachate in attributable to the oxidation of ferrous to ferric from and the formation of ferric hydroxide colloide and complexes with fluvic and humic substance (Chu and Cheung 1994). All values are in ppm, except pH, EC (in ms/cm) and BOD/COD

The present study has indicated that the presence of heavy metals around the landfill site were higher concentration compared to other site. The water of this area is not fit for drinking as well as agriculture practices. The overall implications of this study call for the management of water resources to check these waste and management practices with planned study important in successful water resource management and prevention of health hazards. The first author is very much thankful to Govt. Motilal Vigyan Mahavidyalaya, Bhopal and MPCST, Bhopal for funding this work partly as minor project F. No.: 3644/CST/R&D/2011

 APHA, AWWA, WPCF (1995). Standard methods for the examination water and wastewater (17th ed.). Washington DC, USA: APHA, AWWA, WPCF.  Bean, J. E., Turner, C. A., Hooper, P. R., Subbarao, K.V., & Walsh, J. N. (1986). Stratiography, composition and form of Deccan Basalts, Western Ghats, India. Bulletin of Volcanology, 48, 61-83. doi:10.1007/BF01073513.  Collins,W.O (1923).Graphic representation of analysis, Ind. and Engeneering chemistry, Vol. 15, 394 .  Chttaranjan, R., & Chan, P.C. (1986). Heavy metals in landfills leachate . The International Journal of Environmental studies, 27, 225-237.  Chu, L.M., & cheung, K. C. (1994). Variations in the chemical properties of landfill leachate. Environmental Management, 18, 105-117. doi:10.1007/BF02393753  Fatta, D., Papadopoulos, A., & Loizidou, M. (1999). A study on the landfill leachate and its impact on the groundwater quality of the greater area. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 21(2), 175– 190. doi:10.1023/A:1006613530137.  Jinwal A and Dixit S. (2008) Pre- and Post-Monsoon Variation in Physico-Chemical Characteristics in Groundwater Quality of Bhopal "The City of Lakes" India Asian J. Exp. Sci., Vol. 22, No. 3, 311-316  Jorstad, L. B., Jankowski, J., & Acworth, R. I. (2004). Analysis of the distribution of inorganic constituents in a landfill leachate contaminated aquifers Astrolabe Park, Sydney, Australia.