Impact of Industrial Water Pollution on Human and Livestock Health in Bhavani River basin of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Aim: To study the impact of Industrial Water Pollution on Human and Livestock health in Bhavani River basin of Tamil Nadu. Study Design: The Cost of illness method. Place and Duration of the Study: The study was conducted in the Sathyamangalam block of Erode district of Tamil Nadu from September 2020 to December 2022. Methodology: The Cost of illness method was applied to study the impact of Industrial Water Pollution on human and Livestock health. For this purpose, 180 sample households from Sathyamangalam block of Erode have been selected due to the high intensity of industrial units and significant number of cases related to water pollution were reported frequently in this area. Both primary data and secondary data were collected for the current study. Results and Conclusion: The industrial water pollution in Bhavani River basin of Tamil Nadu leads to decline in the health status of humans. The number of visits to doctors and expenditure on human health before and after pollution disclose substantial increases. The pollution causes sickness in livestock, decrease the reproductive capacity, milk productivity, loss in the quality of milk and finally lead to death of livestock in the study area. In order to overcome the seissues, it is suggested to develop alternative sources of water for drinking and other purposes .Hence, the study recommends strict regulation of industries to adopt pollution-mitigating technologies before discharging effluents into the river.