6.2.2 National Scenario
Wastewater reuse for irrigation in Indian agriculture field is in practice from several
decades. The treated or untreated forms of wastewater are widely used for irrigation
in urban and peri-urban areas. Although there are no certain comprehensive data for
total wastewater used for irrigating agriculture lands, some studies reported its
considerable use. One of the studies from the International Water Management
Institute by Amerasinghe et al. (2013) has reported that about 50,000 ha land was
irrigated by urban wastewater. In peri-urban areas, a variety of crops were grown
under wastewater irrigation, most commonly being vegetables for local urban
markets. Vegetables are important dietary constituents of human food, which fulfil
various needs of nutritional components. Sharma et al. (2007) found that farmers of
suburban areas of Varanasi irrigated their vegetables like palak (Beta vulgaris L. var.
All green H1) with wastewater. This vegetable was grown due to its short growth
period, number of harvested times in single cropping, required low agriculture area,
low labor cost, etc. Analyses of heavy metal in irrigational water, soil and vegetables
in both summer and winter seasons had shown that concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr,
Mn, and Ni in irrigational water and soil were below the recommended limit, except
Cd which was higher in winter than summer. However, in edible part of palak Cd
concentration was higher during summer; but, Pb and Ni contamination were higher
in both the seasons.
Municipalities at Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Gujarat put some charges for irrigating the
agricultural lands with wastewater like municipal corporation of Bhavnagar and
Rajkot charges Rs. 750/ha and Rs. 2500–3000/ha, respectively (Palrecha et al.
2012). Farmers of peri-urban area of Hyderabad use wastewater for irrigation and
prefer to pay charges which help the industries to treat their wastewater and this
information is also valuable for planning small on-site wastewater treatment systems
which help in improving livelihood in risky environment (Saldías et al. 2017).
Sahay et al. (2019) analyzed the effect of wastewater irrigation on growth,
physiological characteristics, and productivity of different Brassica species. In this
experiment, wastewater irrigation was done along with the amendment of NPK at
two different doses (N 60 P 30 K 30 and N 80 P 45 K 45 ). The amendment of NPK with
80:45:45 did not show significant effect; however with 60:30:30 dose, the crop
showed more production due to the reduction of Ni, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Cu accumulation in plant parts. Radhika and Kulkarni (2019) studied in Hubli-Dharwad, twin
cities (Karnataka), second largest populated city after Bangalore, where sewage flow
rate rapidly increased by 12 times with 1.07% per annum growth rate. This trend of
sewage flow with growth rate creates a challenging task for government to manage
sanitation problem and its utilization.
Heavy metals content in soil from Dankaur and Kasna villages, Greater Noida,
UP (India) irrigated with treated wastewater released from 137 MLD sewage
treatment plant was analyzed by Hussain et al. (2019). A pot experiment performed
by Sharma and Agrawal (2006) has reported that the vegetables such as spinach
(Spinacea oleracea), radish (Raphanus sativus), and carrot (Daucus carota Sub
6 Wastewater Reuse in Peri-Urban Agriculture Ecosystem: Current Scenario,. . .
125
Wastewater reuse for irrigation in Indian agriculture field is in practice from several
decades. The treated or untreated forms of wastewater are widely used for irrigation
in urban and peri-urban areas. Although there are no certain comprehensive data for
total wastewater used for irrigating agriculture lands, some studies reported its
considerable use. One of the studies from the International Water Management
Institute by Amerasinghe et al. (2013) has reported that about 50,000 ha land was
irrigated by urban wastewater. In peri-urban areas, a variety of crops were grown
under wastewater irrigation, most commonly being vegetables for local urban
markets. Vegetables are important dietary constituents of human food, which fulfil
various needs of nutritional components. Sharma et al. (2007) found that farmers of
suburban areas of Varanasi irrigated their vegetables like palak (Beta vulgaris L. var.
All green H1) with wastewater. This vegetable was grown due to its short growth
period, number of harvested times in single cropping, required low agriculture area,
low labor cost, etc. Analyses of heavy metal in irrigational water, soil and vegetables
in both summer and winter seasons had shown that concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr,
Mn, and Ni in irrigational water and soil were below the recommended limit, except
Cd which was higher in winter than summer. However, in edible part of palak Cd
concentration was higher during summer; but, Pb and Ni contamination were higher
in both the seasons.
Municipalities at Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Gujarat put some charges for irrigating the
agricultural lands with wastewater like municipal corporation of Bhavnagar and
Rajkot charges Rs. 750/ha and Rs. 2500–3000/ha, respectively (Palrecha et al.
2012). Farmers of peri-urban area of Hyderabad use wastewater for irrigation and
prefer to pay charges which help the industries to treat their wastewater and this
information is also valuable for planning small on-site wastewater treatment systems
which help in improving livelihood in risky environment (Saldías et al. 2017).
Sahay et al. (2019) analyzed the effect of wastewater irrigation on growth,
physiological characteristics, and productivity of different Brassica species. In this
experiment, wastewater irrigation was done along with the amendment of NPK at
two different doses (N 60 P 30 K 30 and N 80 P 45 K 45 ). The amendment of NPK with
80:45:45 did not show significant effect; however with 60:30:30 dose, the crop
showed more production due to the reduction of Ni, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Cu accumulation in plant parts. Radhika and Kulkarni (2019) studied in Hubli-Dharwad, twin
cities (Karnataka), second largest populated city after Bangalore, where sewage flow
rate rapidly increased by 12 times with 1.07% per annum growth rate. This trend of
sewage flow with growth rate creates a challenging task for government to manage
sanitation problem and its utilization.
Heavy metals content in soil from Dankaur and Kasna villages, Greater Noida,
UP (India) irrigated with treated wastewater released from 137 MLD sewage
treatment plant was analyzed by Hussain et al. (2019). A pot experiment performed
by Sharma and Agrawal (2006) has reported that the vegetables such as spinach
(Spinacea oleracea), radish (Raphanus sativus), and carrot (Daucus carota Sub
6 Wastewater Reuse in Peri-Urban Agriculture Ecosystem: Current Scenario,. . .
125