3.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents
3.1.1 Economic characteristics of respondents
As intended to have equal numbers of males and females both in affected and non-affected villages, there were 200 male and 200 female respondents. The mean age of the respondents was 44.83(Range21-87, SD±0.705). The mean income was INR 5160(Range 4695 – 5624, SD 4724). There was a slight difference between mean income of affected and non-affected villages (INR5449 and INR4871). In the affected villages, 47 respondents worked for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, 47 were agricultural/construction workers, 31 respondents were engaged in other service jobs, 30 respondents owned micro level enterprises, 21 were at home as they were housewives or retired or elderly or students. There were 18 farmers, 13 livestock breeders, and 2 were unemployed. Similarly, in the non-affected villages, more than 63 of them were agricultural/construction workers, 56 were engaged in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and 52 were farmers. There were 25 livestock breeders, 22 were at home as they were housewives or retired or elderly or students and 20 were engaged in other service jobs, 8 engaged owned micro level enterprises, and 4 were unemployed. It is important to note that most of them were engaged in multiple professions in different part of the year as the activities are seasonal in nature. In terms of ration card type an indicator of poverty status, 67% of the respondents were holding below poverty line (BPL) card, 30% of the respondents were holding above the poverty line (APL) card and 3% of the respondents hold Annapurna Yojana Card in the affected villages. Similarly, 68% of the respondents were holding BPL cards, 32% of them holding APL card in the non-affected villages.
3.1.2 Social stratification
About 62% of the respondents were from Backward Classes (BC), about 30% were Most Backward Classes (MBC), 8% were Scheduled Castes (SC) and 1% of the respondents were from general category in the affected villages. On the other hand in the non-affected villages, about 66% of them were SCs, 26.5% were BCs and 8% of them were MBCs.
3.2 The Landholdings of respondents in affected and non-affected villages
Only 35.5% of the respondents were holding agricultural land in the affected villages compared to 51% of the respondents were holding agricultural land in non-affected villages. This gives an idea of how the affected villages had significantly lower landholding compared to that of non-affected villages.
3.2.1 Details of landholding
Among those who hold land (173) details of landholding are presented in Table 1. This clearly shows there is a similarity in landholding pattern in affected and non-affected villages. In fact the land holding in affected villages are higher in 1 to 2 acres and more than five acres categories. In total more people hold land (102) in non-affected villages compared to affected villages (71) out of 173. This indicates clearly there exist an imparity in terms of landholding that points to the problem of holding agricultural land.
3.2.2 Type of ownership on landholding
Further, a question on the kind of ownership of the land was asked among the 173 respondents in affected and non-affected villages. A total of 140 respondents cultivated on their land. Of those cultivated, 53 were from the affected villages and 87 were from the non-affected villages. In total, 26 respondents did not cultivate in their land. Of those, 15 were from the affected villages and 11 were from the non-affected villages. A total of 4 respondents have leased their land to others, of those, one respondent was from the affected village and 3 were from the non-affected villages. There was a respondent who cultivated in the leased land in the non-affected village and 2 in the affected villages had cultivated on a partnership basis.
3.2.3 Irrigation of land
A question on whether the agricultural land held by them was irrigated; out of 71 landholders in the affected villages 27 have irrigated their land. While in the non-affected villages, out of 102 landholders, 67 have irrigation their land.
3.2.4 Type of crops cultivated
To understand the type of crop cultivated among those who hold land, the following were reported (Please refer Table 2). Out of 84 cultivating farmers, 39 in affected villages and 45 in non-affected villages cultivated cereals crops such as, corn or maize, legumes, black gram. In the remaining, 19 in affected villages and 16 in non-affected villages cultivated vegetable or fruit. There were 10 in affected and 25 in non-affected villages raised trees. Seven in affected and 30 in non-affected villages cultivated flowers. There were 37 farmers in the non-affected villages cultivated paddy and 15 in affected villages engaged in cotton cultivation. There were 13 in affected and 12 in non-affected villages did not use their land for any cultivation.
3.2.5 Land classification
Based on the standard (wasteland, grazing land, grove land, sown land, and current barren land) land classification, the following were found in the study villages. There were no forest land, non-agricultural use land, and arable wasteland in the study villages. There was a grazing land in the non-affected village and wasteland only in the affected village. There were 54 in affected villages and 91 in non-affected villages sown their lands, and there were 6 in the affected villages and 12 in the non-affected villages had grove lands.
3.2.6 Duration of cultivation
In response to a question on whether they are cultivating thei agricultural land all through the year, it was found that out of 71 agricultural land holders in the affected villages only about 33% of them cultivated their land throughout the year. On the other than out of 102 agricultural land holders in the non-affected villages, about 62% have cultivated their land throughout the year. The less number of land holders cultivate in the affected villages compared to the non-affected villages is contributed to the problems associated with the pollution.
3.3 Sources of Water and Pollution
Table 3 presents the different sources of water used for household activities in the study villages. Out of 189 who accessed tap water through multiple sources, 94 were in the affected villages and 95 were in the non-affected villages. Out of those 143 respondents who had accessed water through one tap or hand pump, 43 were from affected villages and 100 were from non-affected villages. There were also 121 people reported to have paid for the water. Among the people who bought water, 89 were in the affected villages and 32 were in the non-affected villages. There were 70 in the affected villages and 21 in the non-affected villages had tap water connection at their home connecting to bathroom, kitchen, and toilet. There were 59 respondents in the affected villages and 21 respondents in the non-affected villages had a water connection connected to a nearby dam. Out of 19 respondents who depend on well water or stream or lake or a bore well, 13 were from affected and 6 were from non-affected villages.
3.3.1 Pollution and water contamination
There were 72% in affected and 32% in non-affected villages reported that the water consumed by them was polluted. The types of changes experienced due to water pollution are as follows. Changes in the quality of water in terms of tastelessness of water was reported by 128 in the affected villages and 64 in the non-affected villages, while 81 in the affected villages and 18 in the non-affected villages reported salinity or deposits of salt in the water. Thirteen respondents in the affected villages and 6 in the non-affected villages experienced itching while washing the skin using water. Only in the affected villages some people (8) have reported green deposits floating on the water surface and some (11) have reported foul smell in the surroundings. Eight of the affected village respondents quoted an unexplainable water quality caused by tannery pollution. There were also 3 respondents from the non-affected villages experienced industrial pollution caused water contamination by the other non-tannery industries. Overall there are more problems found in the closer to the tanneries than the farther villages. The problems such as green deposits caused by the tannery wastes and foul smell are evident that it is unique only to the tanneries.
3.3.2 Pollution of Environment
The environment surrounding of villages that were polluted higher (130) in the affected villages compared to the non-affected villages (9). While responding to the reasons, the number of reasons was reported as discussed in the following sections.
3.3.3 Polluted Water Sources
Among 139 who have reported their water sources were polluted, 115 of them in affected and 2 in non-affected villages have said the water storage surrounding the border areas of the villages were polluted (Table 4). Additionally the table 4 clearly shows most of the water sources are polluted in the affected village compared to the non-affected village. In the non-affected villages, only 7 or less respondents have reported any of the above mentioned type of pollution of water sources in their villages. This clearly shows how the water sources surrounding the tanneries in the affected villages were more polluting than non-affected villages.
3.3.4 Recognizable Changes in Water sources due to industrial pollution
The Recognizable Changes in Water sources due to industrial pollution in the study villages are shown in the table 5. Most of the problems are significantly higher in affected villages compared to the non-affected villages. Only the characteristics of without any attribute such as salt or colour are reported higher in the non-affected villages clearly shows the impact of tannery pollution on the water sources in the affected villages. The common characteristics reported in water sources due to industrial pollution are, salt deposits, change in colour, well water turned to black in colour, green colour particles floating on the surface, and tannery effluents mixing with the ground water. In addition, more people in affected also reported of dried up water sources. There were 25 respondents from affected villages and 12 respondents from non-affected villages said there are unexplainable changes in their surroundings. Overall, the affected villages located in and around the tanneries experiencing larger problem of pollution than the non-affected villages. This clearly shows how the rural environment is affected due to the tannery pollution.
3.4 Problems faced due to industrial pollution
Table 6 shows the type of difficulties faced by the respondents from affected and non-affected villages. There were 167 from the affected villages and 101 from the non-affected villages reported to have faced problems in getting drinking water in their villages. While mentioning about other problems related water, 109 in affected villages and 113 in non-affected villages experienced lack of sufficient water for agriculture. While, 88 in affected villages and 22 in non-affected villages have reported that there was a non-availability of clean water in their villages. While 37 in affected villages and 2 in non-affected villages reported to have an experience of not having a clean air in their villages. Only in the affected villages, there were 105 respondents who have reported an odour caused by the tanneries during monsoon seasons. There were also people reported rashes and itching experiences mostly (29) from the affected villages. In terms of employment status, the affected villages relatively lesser (82) problem of lack of jobs compared to that of non-affected villages (107). Similarly the transportation problem was more (156) in non-affected villages which farther from the town compared to affected villages (66) closer to the Dindigul town. There were more than 90 persons reported job losses due to Covid19 outbreak in both the villages.
Further, villagers were asked whether problems mentioned in Table 6 is caused by Tanneries. There were 107 of the respondents from the affected villages and 26 of the respondents from the non-affected villages mentioned that the problems mentioned in Table 6 are caused by tanneries (Table 7). There were 62 respondents from the affected villages and 43 respondents from the non-affected villages were not sure whether the problems are caused by the tanneries.
3.4.1 Other problems caused by industrial pollution
A question on what are other problems caused by industrial pollution, the problems such as skin diseases, fever, dental problems, hair loss, looking older, skin wrinkles, land become uncultivable, rashes and itching in body, overall deterioration of health, and livelihood been affected were reported. It is clear from the Figure 1 that all the reported problems were higher in the affected villages compared to the non-affected villages.
3.5 Impact of water pollution on livelihood
3.5.1 Water Pollution on the Households and the Community
In response to a question on whether there was an impact of water pollution on the Households and the Community, 145 from the affected villages and 9 from the non-affected villages were opined with that. Table 8 shows out of those 154 respondents, many (113) from the affected villages felt it is difficult even to walk in neighbourhood their villages due to tannery pollution. Other major problems reported in the affected villages are the villages are no longer liveable and their livelihood has been affected. The non-affected villages had lesser problems according to the respondents. There was also a unique problem reported by the villages near tanneries was they have not been visited by their friends and relatives due to the smell and poor environment in their villages.
3.5.2 Water pollution affected the livestock and caused other problems
About 60% of the respondents in the affected villages reported that the polluted water had affected livestock and caused other problems. Only 5% of the respondents from the non-affected villages reported the same. Table 9 shows many of the problems related to livestock and other problems are higher in affected villages than the non-affected villages. The reduction in quantity of milk was reported in the affected villages more than the non-affected villages. Similarly, the problems such as increase in Mosquitoes, emergence of newer diseases were reported very in affected villages. People also feel there is a nutritional related problem due to the consumption of polluted water in the affected villages. This clearly shows how the villages surrounding the tannery pollution suffer due to various problems.
3.6 Impact of water pollution on Agriculture
3.6.1 Impact of Water Pollution on Agriculture
When the respondents were asked whether water pollution affected the agriculture, 125 in the affected villages and 10 in the non-affected villages felt their agriculture was affected. Table 10 shows various reasons quoted on how the water pollution has affected the agriculture in the study villages. The problems such as reduction in agricultural production, irrigation sources were polluted, farmland become infertile, poor quality of produce were major problems reported. They were also finding it difficult to sell their land due to pollution. In general the above problems were reported very low in non-affected villages.
3.6.2 Impact of water pollution on soil
Further a question on whether the water pollution affects the soil, 148 in affected villages and 13 in non-affected villages said their soil been affected. Out of 161 respondents reported the polluted water affected their soil, more than 100 respondents in the affected villages reported that the soil quality was deteriorated and the soil was polluted due to the industrial effluents. That was followed by reasons such as 90 reported agricultural yields were reduced, 85 respondents reported soil nutrients were deteriorated, 59 respondents reported soil became saline-alkaline, 57 respondents reported the soil was unfit for cultivation, and 8 respondents reported unexplainable reasons. This was lower in the non-affected villages with only 13 respondents have reported the soil was polluted due to industrial effluents, which was followed by 12 respondents reporting deterioration in soil quality and soil nutrients, 8 respondents reported soil is unfit for cultivation, and 7 respondents reported agricultural yields reduced. In general even the polluted soil in the affected villages due to tannery pollution is highly recognised by the respondents of the study.