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In the coal-rich district of Umaria, Madhya Pradesh, every glass of water carries a hidden danger. Families here depend on groundwater drawn from wells and handpumps, unaware that it may contain high levels of toxic metals. A recent study has found alarming contamination linked to mining activity — a reminder that India’s coal belt may also be its most water-stressed region.
The study published in Nature, Scientific Reports titled, ‘ Anthropogenic influence on groundwater metal toxicity and risk to human health assessment in Umaria coalfield of Madhya Pradesh, India’ finds that coal mining activities have led to heavy metal contamination of groundwater, an important source of drinking water in the region. Everyday life in Umaria depends on this water. It is what people drink, cook with, and feed their fields from. But as the study shows, the very water sustaining life may now be making people sick, especially children.
Coal powers much of India, but beneath its black shine lies a story of contamination that threatens lives and livelihoods. When coal is mined and processed, toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium are released into the environment. These metals seep into groundwater and can remain there for years, slowly accumulating to dangerous levels.
For communities living in coal mining areas, groundwater is not just a resource, it’s a lifeline. People drink it, use it to irrigate crops, and depend on it for daily needs. But once this water is contaminated, it can silently harm those who rely on it the most.
Arsenic can cause skin problems, developmental delays, and even cancer.
Lead affects brain development in children and damages the heart in adults.
Mercury and cadmium harm the nervous system, kidneys, and bones.
These are not distant threats. Studies from coal-rich regions like Wardha Valley and Jharia coalfield have already found dangerously high levels of metals like iron, nickel, cadmium, and lead in drinking water. Seasonal changes further alter their concentration, showing how pollutants shift with rainfall and groundwater flow.
Despite these warning signs, there’s still limited data on the full extent of groundwater pollution in India’s coal belts. Monitoring is irregular, and the long-term health impacts on local populations remain poorly studied.
To better understand this crisis, scientists studied groundwater in Umaria during two seasons, post-monsoon (November 2022) and pre-monsoon (June 2023). They analysed samples from wells and handpumps across villages, mapping contamination using GIS tools and tracing sources of pollution.
Their questions were straightforward but urgent:
How contaminated is the groundwater?
Where is the pollution coming from?
Who is at risk, and how severe are those risks?
Umaria’s geography makes the problem worse. The district lies atop ancient Archean basement rocks covered by Gondwana sediments, which store water in tiny pores and fractures. These layers act as natural aquifers. But mining, agriculture, and industrial expansion have disturbed them, allowing pollutants to flow and settle underground.
The region’s rainfall, which is about 1,250 mm a year, helps recharge groundwater, but the same rain can also push contaminants deeper. With a thermal power plant and several coal processing units nearby, the risks multiply. Using GIS-based spatial analysis, the researchers mapped the contamination and identified risk zones across Umaria.
Umaria lies in a part of Madhya Pradesh where coal dominates both the economy and the environment. The landscape is a mix of agricultural fields, forests, villages, and barren stretches, with a thermal power plant operating nearby. The area receives around 1,250 mm of rainfall annually, which helps replenish groundwater, but the same rain can also carry contaminants deeper underground.
Beneath the surface, Umaria rests on ancient Archean basement rocks, overlaid by Gondwana sediments that store groundwater in tiny pores and fractures. These layers act as natural aquifers, allowing water to flow and collect underground.
Groundwater levels change with the seasons—before the monsoon, they fall to depths of 1.9–11.8 metres, and after the rains, they rise by 1.3–9.7 metres. This natural recharge cycle is crucial for sustaining life. But when pollutants from mining seep into these aquifers, they turn a life source into a slow-moving hazard.
The study’s results reveal that groundwater in many parts of Umaria is no longer safe to drink.
Around 40% of samples contained aluminium levels higher than the safe limit of 30 μg/L set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS, 2012). The contamination was worse before the monsoon, suggesting that rainfall helps dilute some pollutants but not enough to make the water safe.
Iron contamination was found in nearly four out of ten samples throughout the year, while manganese levels were above safe limits in one out of eight samples.
Traces of barium, lead, cadmium, and zinc also exceeded acceptable levels in several locations.
While metals such as arsenic, chromium, copper, nickel, and selenium were found within safe limits, the combined presence of aluminium, iron, and manganese renders the water unfit for human consumption in several pockets of the district.
The total metal load in groundwater was higher in the pre-monsoon season, likely because less rain means less dilution. Rainwater during the southwest monsoon (June–September) helps recharge the aquifers but can also carry pollutants deeper underground if the contamination source remains unchecked.
The study traced the contamination to multiple origins like coal mining and processing activities, industrial effluents, and thermal power plant emissions. Even natural factors, such as the mineral composition of rocks and vehicular emissions, contribute to the heavy metal mix. Together, these have created a web of pollution that now threatens the region’s most essential resource — its groundwater.
The main way people are exposed to metal contamination is by drinking water and not through skin contact. Children are the most vulnerable to health risks from drinking groundwater as compared to adults. The health risk due to metal exposure among children from groundwater intake is very high in over three-quarters of samples before the monsoon, and 60 percent after.
The present study suggests a potential non-carcinogenic human health risk due to groundwater intake highlighting the need for routine groundwater quality monitoring in the region. The findings also highlight the importance of public health management to guide policies.
Protecting groundwater in regions like Umaria will require more than local fixes. Experts recommend setting up routine groundwater quality monitoring systems, enforcing zero discharge policies for industrial effluents, and introducing community-based water surveillance networks.
The authors also urge remediation measures such as low-cost filtration, safe water alternatives, and stricter enforcement of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) water quality norms. Local solutions matter too. Rainwater harvesting, restoring ponds and tanks, and promoting cleaner industrial technologies can all help reduce dependency on contaminated groundwater.
The story of Umaria’s water is more than a scientific finding, it’s about the price we pay for power. Coal may keep India’s lights on, but it is dimming the health and future of those who live above its seams. If the water that sustains a community turns toxic, can we still call it development? The answer, perhaps, lies not in how much energy we generate, but in whether we can keep our water, air, and children safe while doing so.