Visakhapatnam, Sept. 7: An expert study has revealed that groundwater in the coastal areas of the state is slowly turning salty. Unless urgent remedial action is taken, the farmers of the area would face crop failure and attendant financial crisis. The hydro geochemistry study was conducted by a group from the environmental science department of the Gitam University. As part of it, 81 groundwater samples were collected from 21 places in Nellore, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts. And most of the samples contained salt. One reason for this is the overuse of groundwater. In scientific terms, when freshwater is withdrawn at a faster rate than it can be replenished, the water table drawdown sets in with a resultant decrease in the overall hydrostatic pressure. And when this happens near an ocean shoreline, the saltwater from the sea intrudes into the freshwater aquifer. Some of the water samples collected were tested and studied at the university labs and others at the National Geographic Research Institute at Hyderabad. "Alarmingly, most of the water samples collected are salty," said Prof. Ch Ramakrishna of Gitam University . "This spells trouble for agricultural activity along the entire coastal area." Not only that, the general populace would also face acute shortage of freshwater. Prof. Ramakrishna said that there were a large number of borewells in Nellore which had resulted in overuse and depletion of groundwater. This resulted in intrusion of salt water. The situation in Vizag was even worse because of the discharge of polluted industrial wastes into seawater which then creeps into groundwater. "This is causing an environmental ecological imbalance," said Prof. Ramakrishna. "The effluents being discharged into the sea by industries in and around Vizag are not being treated well. The levels of magnesium, sodium and other minerals in the groundwater are also found to be above the required levels.