Shillong, Dec 31: The quality of drinking water in Meghalaya and other northeastern states has been found to be well within safe limits, according to the Annual Groundwater Quality Report (2024) released today by the Central Ground Water Board.
The report offers a detailed analysis of groundwater quality across India, with a focus on monitoring, trend analysis, and hotspot identification. It is based on data from over 15,200 monitoring sites and assessments from 4,982 trend stations, providing valuable insights into groundwater quality variations across different regions.
The findings revealed that Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Nagaland reported 100% compliance with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for drinking water quality. Groundwater remains a crucial source of drinking water, irrigation, and industrial use in these states.
In terms of Electrical Conductivity (EC)—a key measure of water’s mineralization and salinity—groundwater in the Northeast states showed values well within permissible limits (<750 µS/cm), indicating low salinity. No state in the region recorded EC levels exceeding 3000 µS/cm, which is a significant achievement considering that nearly 20% of groundwater samples from other parts of India exceed permissible limits for contaminants like nitrate and fluoride.
The report further highlights that groundwater in the Northeast is classified as highly suitable for irrigation based on Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) and Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) values. Most areas fall into the “excellent” category (S1) for irrigation water.
Experts attribute the region’s high-quality groundwater to the area’s abundant rainfall and minimal industrial or agricultural pollution. The region’s aquifers, dominated by hard rock geology, experience minimal leaching of harmful minerals like fluoride and arsenic.
Fluoride contamination is virtually non-existent, with fluoride levels well below the BIS limit of 1.5 mg/L. Unlike the Ganga-Brahmaputra plains or arid regions like Rajasthan and Gujarat, the Northeast’s groundwater remains free from significant fluoride or arsenic contamination, which is often found in areas with certain geological conditions or high levels of industrial activity.
The report also mentions that while traces of arsenic are present in Assam’s Brahmaputra floodplain, the levels are much lower than in known arsenic hotspots like West Bengal and Bihar.
Finally, although some pockets in the region may report iron concentrations slightly above the permissible limit (1 mg/L), this is considered more of an aesthetic issue rather than a health concern.
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