IIT Indore reveals severe pollution in drain leading into Kshipra river ahead of Simhastha 2028 pilgrimage

A scientific investigation by IIT Indore of Nagdaman Nala — a drain which directly flows into the Kshipra river where an estimated 30 crore pilgrims are expected to take the holy dip at Ujjain during Simhastha 2028 — conducted in August reveals severe contamination, reported TOI’s P Naveen.

According to the newspaper, Nagdhaman Nala runs through the Dewas industrial area and joins Kshipra near Hawankhedi village. Comptroller and Auditor General's audit on the degradation of Kshipra documents this confluence and marks a sampling point there to check the impact of Dewas's industrial waste and sewage on the river.

The study found the drain to have almost no oxygen in its water, high levels of faecal bacteria and a waste load beyond 200 times the national limit for bathing water at the worst spot.


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Researchers also recorded a foul odour and signs of untreated household and industrial wastewater flowing in. Their verdict: the water is unfit even for direct household or recreational use without treatment. With Ujjain's Simhastha less than a year and a half away, the departments concerned of Madhya Pradesh govt are yet to act, reported TOI citing sources.

Prompted by growing environmental concerns, a state government department appealed to the Additional Chief Secretary, Environment Department, for the immediate cessation of industrial waste flowing into the drain

TOI, citing its sources, reported that a copy was also sent to the Member Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB), the agency which oversees industrial waste compliance; however, there is no record yet of the board sending notices, conducting inspections or fresh sampling, the newspaper said.

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The IIT Indore study found heavy pollution at every point it tested, contradicting the official position of Dewas collector Ritu Raj, who, citing an MPCCB investigation, had said that industrial effluent in the drain was within the permissible limit.

Prof Kiran Bala and Prof Manish Kumar Goyal of IIT Indore told TOI that healthy river water holds more than five units of oxygen; however, according to their study, the water, at one of the points of testing, held almost none, far below one unit. On the other, oxygen was close to normal, but the water was still heavily polluted.

They also pointed out that the waste load was far beyond safe levels, with the national limit for bathing water being three units of waste.

According to the researchers, at one of the testing points, the drain carried over 200 times the limit, and at another, it carried roughly 100 times.

Their second test, which studied the chemical contamination of water, also showed very high readings at all three points. The study found seven heavy metals: cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, manganese and lead, reported the newspaper.

The study found sewage contamination at all three points, with faecal bacteria beyond the highest level the test could measure. The test also detected E. coli. IIT rated the point beside the treatment plant as highly polluted and the other two as severely polluted. The report does not name any company as the source of a particular pollutant.

Sewage contamination was found at all three points. Faecal bacteria went beyond the highest level the test could measure, and E. coli was also detected. IIT rated the point beside the treatment plant as highly polluted and the other two as severely polluted. The report does not name any company as the source of a particular pollutant.

Gaps in the study

According to TOI, a key limitation of the findings is seasonal context. IIT cautions that the samples were taken in the monsoon, likely diluting the waste burden, which means that the drain could be worse in the dry months. The study only correlates to the samples tested.

The newspaper highlighted that the MPPCB laboratory report behind the earlier assurance was not present in the documents and the difference in sampling methods — IIT tested water in the drain rather than individual factory discharge — prevented the two sets of results from being directly compared.

The National Green Tribunal had already set its sites on the drain, with a joint committee report filed in response to NGT orders in a 2023 case on Kshipra recorded that Nagdhaman Nala meets the river near Hawankhedi, that sewage from colonies upstream of the Dewas industrial area flows into it, and that the city's sewage treatment plants were not treating the wastewater of its drains, according to TOI.

The regulatory body also directed Ujjain's civic body and district administration to stop untreated sewage entering Kshipra ahead of Simhastha.



(With inputs from TOI)