NEW DELHI, Nov 4: India, already saddled with high air and water pollution, is fast becoming the world’s dumping ground for toxic mercury, a leading environmental group said.

While the developed world is phasing out mercury, Indian imports of recycled mercury and mercury compounds used mainly by the electrical industry have increased almost sixfold in the past seven years, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

“We are rapidly becoming the toxic dumping ground of the world’s mercury,” a CSE statement quoted Director Sunita Narain as saying. “We will become the world’s dirt capital.”

India, the world’s largest recycler, is increasingly being confronted by the health risks of taking global waste — from plastics to computer gear to steel — and the dangerous ways it is recycled, often releasing poisons and heavy metals.

CSE, an environmental lobby group that made headlines recently by sparking a row over pesticides in soft drinks made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi, said India’s mercury imports jumped to 1,386 tonnes in 2002/03 from just 257 tons in 1996/97.

A CSE official said most of the mercury comes in recycled form from Spain, Britain, Russia, Italy and the US because India lacks regulations. “We cannot afford to become the world’s dumpyard for toxic mercury. Remember, mercury is mobile, it moves across continents,” CSE said.—Reuters