Quality of groundwater in Valikamam area, Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Jaffna Peninsula depends largely on groundwater resources for domestic as well as agricultural purposes. On several instances, it was pointed out that the groundwater is deteriorating due to overuse and is polluted by excessive usage of agrochemical, fertilizers, waste oil and improper sewage disposal. Hence, an experimental study was undertaken to assess the analysis of groundwater quality. To achieve this, water samples were collected from the area around the Power Station, Chunnakam. All selected 16 wells were contaminated with coliforms. Tested chemicals concentrations are not in risk level even though Average Nitrate nitrogen concentration of tested 16 well ranges from 8.2 to 29.8 mg/l with the mean value of 19.25625. However the SLS gives that the maximum permissible level of drinking water is 10 mg/l. Groundwater condition of Valikamam area, Jaffna peninsula is not much suitable for drinking purpose.

Protecting Human Rights in the Light of Industrial Water Pollution: Sri Lankan Law and Obligations under International Law

“…Environmental pollution and degradation of natural resources following the disposal of industrial wastewater has become a common phenomenon in contemporary Sri Lanka. The most crucial of these incidents include the water crisis in Rathupaswala in 2013 due to alleged ground water pollution by a rubber glove manufacturing company (Perera, 2015;Rodrigo, 2013), the contamination of the Kelani river in 2015 due to diesel oil spillage by a well-reputed, multi-national beverage company (Environmental Foundation Limited, 2015), well water pollution in the Chunnakam area in the Jaffna peninsula due to the operations of a thermal power station since 2009 (Jeevaratnam et al, 2018;Suntha, 2018;Vallipuranathan, 2015) and the chronic kidney disease in the dry zone of Sri Lanka often attributed to agricultural water pollution (Jayasumana et al, 2017;Kafle et al, 2019). These incidents have had long-lasting implications not only on environmental sustainability, but also on the most basic rights of the people affected.…”