Nashik’s groundwater crisis has triggered closure proceedings against 17 plating units in the Ambad Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation estate after testing found total chromium levels of 45 parts per million in borewell water near Dattanagar. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and MIDC have also begun a wider audit of industrial operations to identify the source of contamination.
Officials said inspections of 275 industrial units and sheds in areas adjoining Dattanagar have been completed. The survey is examining the nature of manufacturing activities, verifying permissions and statutory documents, and checking whether units are complying with pollution-control requirements.
The action followed complaints from residents about yellowish and contaminated borewell water in Dattanagar and nearby localities on Nashik’s outskirts. A joint inspection by the MPCB, MIDC and Nashik Municipal Corporation was initiated after directions from guardian minister Girish Mahajan, environment minister Pankaja Munde and mayor Himgauri Aher.
According to an MPCB official cited in the report, an analysis found groundwater contamination with total chromium measured at 45 ppm. “Based on the findings, inspections of industries in the area have been initiated, and further investigations are underway to trace the source of contamination,” the official said.
The inspections found that effluent treatment plants at several plating units were either not functioning or were operating under suspicious conditions, officials said. The MPCB has issued closure notices to 17 units found violating environmental norms. Five other industrial units have received show-cause notices and have been asked to explain why closure proceedings should not be initiated against them.
MIDC has disconnected water supply to nine of the 17 units, while action is being taken against the remaining units. Authorities have also directed the Maharashtra State Electricity Board to disconnect power supply to the units facing action. The measures are intended to stop operations at establishments identified as non-compliant while the investigation continues.
The case places the industrial estate’s regulatory systems under scrutiny because the reported contamination emerged alongside concerns about effluent treatment, statutory permissions and the monitoring of manufacturing activity. The ongoing survey is expected to establish which units handle processes associated with plating, whether their treatment facilities are functional and whether their operations match the permissions issued to them.
For residents of Dattanagar and surrounding areas, the immediate concern is the safety of groundwater used through borewells. The supplied report does not establish the precise source of the chromium or identify the full geographic extent of the contamination. Authorities are continuing inspections and investigations to trace the source while tightening scrutiny of industrial units in one of Nashik’s largest industrial estates.
