What is turning Mumbai dogs blue?

Pollutants from a dye factory are being allowed to flow into water bodies.

A swim in the Kasadi River in Mumbai is turning dogs blue. At least five stray dogs were spotted with bright blue fur after taking a dip in the highly polluted river. Activists have now called for immediate action by the pollution control board.

Industrial dye being pumped into the water Taloja industrial area is harming the environment and the blue-furred dogs were standing examples of the pollution. Citizens and animal lovers who spotted the dogs registered a complaint with the pollution control board.A water quality test at Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation found the waste treatment was inadequate. The levels of biochemical oxygen demand was 80 milligram a litre (mg/L). BOD is the concentration of oxygen required to sustain aquatic life. Levels of chloride which is toxic and harms vegetation, aquatic life and wildlife were also high.

The region has nearly a 1,000 pharmaceutical, food and engineering factories. According to Central Pollution Control Board guidelines, fish die when BOD level are above 6 mg/L. Levels above 3 mg/L make the water unfit for human consumption.

"It is shocking but it is not just dogs. I have also seen some birds turning blue because of the polluted water body. The state pollution board cannot take this lightly," said Aarti Chauhan who registered a complaint about the phenomenon. The industrial waste is suspected to be a dye used in manufacturing detergents.

According to Watchdog Foundation, an NGO there are 977 chemical, pharmaceutical, engineering and food processing factories in the Taloja industrial area. Industrial effluents from 347 small and medium-scale industries mostly comprising of chemical, pharmaceutical and food processing are treated at a Common Effluent Treatment Plant.

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