Leather processing and its possible impact on groundwater quality in Silk Road sites: a case study from Chennai, India

Water plays an important role in human civilisation. Since ancient times people started to settle in regions with ensured water availability. Trade was an important factor for the development of civilisation. Silk Road is an important route used for the trading between China and other countries across Eurasia. Not only silk, many goods including leather were exchanged during trading. Leather was processing lead to release of large amount of wastewater. This study was carried out to understand how the leather processing would have affected the groundwater quality in Silk Road sites by studying the current scenarios of groundwater quality near tanning industries. Chennai and nearby cities such as Ranipet and Vaniyambadi are chosen for case studies. Groundwater quality around the tanneries was poor due to high electrical conductivity and concentration of chromium. This is due to the effluents released by the tanneries into the ground or open drains without proper treatment. Similarly, the leather processing in Silk Road sites would have also affected the groundwater quality.