Hotter than hell
The "hot spots' of heavy metal pollution in India are places where extraction, processing and use of metals are intense. Some of these "hot spots' are:
- Mining belts and metal smelters such as Khetri and Zawar in Rajasthan, Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar copper field and Agnigundala in Andhra Pradesh for lead, zinc, copper and cadmium. Add to these various steel cities, collieries and sites of coal-based thermal power plants;
- Regions where inorganic chemical industries using metals are concentrated. Include are clusters of tanneries in Kanpur and Madras, textiles and dyeing industries in Tiruppur, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Surat;
- Miscellaneous regions such as the recently-recognised Ganga delta for arsenic accumulation, various water bodies