Ahmedabad: Poisonous vapours from the sewage line in house killed Shyama Kumawat, 26, a resident of Silver City Society on Vastral Road, and her daughters Sangeeta and Lalita in March last year. In the subsequent probe, the Ramol police found that the deaths were caused by illegal dumping of toxic waste, including hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid, in sewage line near Vastral.Origin of the waste was an industrial unit in Chhatral that had given contract to a group for the job. The raid on Sunday by Ahmedabad rural police again brought the issue of illegal dumping of untreated effluents under spotlight. Police found evidence that the units were directly polluting Narmada canal. "In the past one year, four cases have been registered at Changodar, two each at Aslali and local crime branch (LCB) and one each at Dholka and Vivekanandnagar police stations for violation of pollution norms. While in five cases, the accused had used tankers to dump the chemicals and untreated water, in two recent cases, the pipelines were used to dump it directly in water source," said a senior Ahmedabad rural police official. Officials said that 24 accused were caught for the offence and one accused, Meru Bharwad, was even sent to prison under PASA provi sions for his involvement in over three cases of illegal dumping. "Drive is on to identify the units that flout the rules openly and pollute water and environment, causing health hazard for a number of citizens," said the official. Times View Rampant dumping of effluents in Ahmedabad's periphery by industrial units is proving to be a health hazard which has already turned fatal for some denizens. This illegal practice has flourished because scores of industrial units function without proper effluent disposal or treatment systems a prerequisite by law. If this practice continues unchecked, more may fall prey. Concerned agencies like GPCB has to ensure that industrial units follow norms and also impose severe penalties on those flouting rules.