The Hooghly is being used as a dumping ground for electronic waste. The culprits are unaware of the risks posed to the river. The authorities are not even bothered. A Telegraph picture

The authorities have woken up to the dangers of dumping puja waste in the Hooghly but deadly electronic waste continues to be tossed into the river.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, which is waste generated from electronic gadgets, contains poisonous elements, including mercury, chromium and cadmium.

“Dumping of e-waste has reached alarming proportions. But there has been no attempt to control the problem,” said S.K. Ghosh, a scientist with Jadavpur University.

He has collaborated on a project report on the problem. It will be submitted to state and central government bodies. According to the report, Chandni Chowk, Phoolbagan, Kadapara, Rajabazar and several parts of Howrah have become dumping zones for e-waste.

The NGO that worked with Ghosh found that about 9,000 tonnes of e-waste is being dumped in the city every year.

“We found that those who throw useless parts of computer monitors and other e-waste into the Hooghly have no idea that the practice is harmful,” said Priti Mahesh, another researcher with the project. She added that people breaking the circuit boards of old electronic gadgets is a common sight at Chandni Chowk.

The problem has been compounded by scrap dealers. “I collected 50 discarded printers from a trader, took out the useful parts and threw the rest into the Hooghly,” said scrap dealer Nasibul Ali.

Officials of the irrigation department also acknowledge the problem. “Broken parts of electronic gadgets have been found on the Bagjola canal bed. It seems that e-waste is thrown into waterbodies every day,” said an official of the department.