1. Mathura is a holy and to a certain extent, an industrial city. Mathura’s
industries include oil refining, tourism, silver polishing and textiles amongst
others. For a matter of fact, Mathura is a major contributor to the economy
of Uttar Pradesh. The industry I chose to study is the oil refinery in
Mathura. The Indian Oil Corporation owns this oil refinery and it is one of
the biggest refineries in Asia. It is believed to be highly technological and
advanced. It has the capacity of producing 8.0 Million metric tonnes per
annum of crude oil. The refinery supplies to the Northwest region of India.
This refinery processes the crude oil with low sulphur from Bombay High,
imported crude with low sulphur from Nigeria, and crude with high sulphur
from Middle East Countries. Oil refineries are extremely important as they
break down crude oil into different components which are subsequently,
used to make new products like gasoline, bitumen, petrol, naphtha etc. The
three major steps for oil refinement are “separation, conversion and
treatment.” Separation means piping the raw materials through hot kilns
and the vapor formed is sent through distilled towers. Conversion is when
some part of the substance in the distilled power needs to be broken down
into finer components and then be rearranged. The last part is treatment
which is the fine tuning (example: petrol needs to be blended according to
weather it needs to combat) hence, it is like making the substance
personalized according to the consumer surroundings. The main reason of
oil refinement is the implication in fuel for cars, aeroplanes and other mode
of transportation. Oil refinement is necessary for the gas cylinder that is
required for the stove as well as needed for the tarring of the road.
The biggest impact on the environment is air pollution as a result of the
many harmful gases emitted by the factory. The gases include sulphur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane etc.
The oil refineries also let out small dust particles causing respiratory
problems within the district of Mathura, Dwardka and Agra. Crude oil
contains high amount of sulphur. However, the Mathura refinery processes
mainly crude oil with low sulphur (66.6%) but it still refines Middle Eastern
crude oil that contains high amount of sulphur. The emission of sulphur
dioxide can cause acid rain. Acid rain can lead to irritation of the eyes, nose,
mouth and throat, difficulty in breathing, nausea, vomiting, and headaches
and in high concentration of sulphur dioxide even death. In and around
Mathura particular, the emission of sulphur dioxide in high amounts is

2. causes damage to metals and weathering of stones. For a matter of fact,
the Mathura refinery is the root cause of the yellowing of the magnificent
heritage site in India; Taj Mahal. The Mathura refinery is also responsible
for harming the marine flora in the Yamuna River.
The waste management strategies adopted by Indian oil corporation
include but not limited to are:
• Minimizing the scrap as a result of the procedure for the formation of
the new substance by transferring them by tanks for excess refinement.
• Treating acidic waste in a specialized manner.
• Has a sulphur recovery unit.
• All the tanks and pipes are mechanically sealed.
The procedure of minimizing scrap seems ineffective as the existing scrap
will be refined but during the procedure more sludge would form making
the outcome superficial. In this way the sludge isn’t increasing or
decreasing. Hence, it is a waste of resources (special tanks). Treating acidic
way in a specialized manner seems effective as it is making it less hazardous
to the population around the refinery. The sulphur recovery unit traces
down and decomposes the sulphur trying to make the emission lesser. This
doesn’t really have much significance, as the emission of SO 2 is anyway very
high even though 66.6% of the crude has low sulphur concentration. As
mentioned earlier, the chief cause of acid rain in and around Mathura is the
refinery. Fortunately, the Mathura refinery hasn’t seen any pipe or tank
burst therefore, I believe the sealing of the pipes is effective.
The byproducts of oil are less dense than water making it obvious for the oil
to form a film on the surface of a nearby, water body to the refinery (in this
case Yamuna). This would prevent the optimum level of sunlight from
reaching the flora on the riverbed that would reduce photosynthesis and
consequently, depletion in O2 levels in water paving the rise to the increase
of CO2. As a result, the higher organisms in the food chain would face a
shortage of seafood. A drastic reduction in biodiversity would cause
decomposition leading to methane that would contribute to the increase in
green house gases eventually leading to global warming in the longer run.
The Mathura Refinery has fortunately never been a victim of oil spills,
bursting of pipelines or any such disastrous occurrences. However, it has

3. been victimized in the passed and still is victimized for the yellowing of the
Taj as mentioned earlier as a result of this, the Indian Oil Corporation has
tightened up waste management strategies and has foresighted the
possible impact on the environment as a result of this refinery. However, I
believe the waste management strategies should strongly been worked on
as some of them are futile and just a waste of resources like the example
given above. The impractical solution would be to re-locate this refinery to
some place else but still it is sort of impossible for it not affect anything
especially, in a country like India. This refinery should probably re-locate to
a rural area in Rajasthan, as it wouldn’t be as harmful. It wouldn’t have any
water body close by as Rajasthan is a desert nor would they face a problem
with population, as it would probably be set up on sand dunes. But yes, no
place is ideal for an oil refinery as it is going to have an adverse impact on
the environment whatever said and done.
According to me, the Indian Oil Corporation has taken good initiative in
dealing with environmental crisis. However, if this is accelerated a lot more
could be achieved. They aren’t facing that much of an environmental crisis
now but are sure to in the longer run as it is one of the biggest and well
equipped oil refineries in Asia. After it starts affecting the photosynthesis
of the flora in the Yamuna everything, would follow like a domino effect.
The Yamuna flows by quite a few important and densely populated cities
and villages in Uttar Pradesh. In India, due to lack of education and money,
people directly drink river water without purifying it or boiling it and if the
film spreads surely it would prove fatal. Therefore, the Indian Oil
Corporation should take a stronger stance in dealing with environmental
issues.
Appendix:
Over the past 2 decades, India’s most famous tourist attraction, Taj Mahal
located in Agra, has become a matter of concern. Experts have warned that
pollutants in air are discolouring its white marble. So, it is not only living
organisms that get affected by polluted air but non-living things like
buildings, monuments and statues also get affected. The industries located
in and around Agra like rubber processing, automobile, chemicals and
especially the Mathura oil refinery, have been responsible for producing

4. pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. These gases react with
the water vapour present in the atmosphere to form sulphuric acid and
nitric acid. The acids drop down with rain, making the rain acidic. This is
called acid rain. Acid rain corrodes the marble of the monument. The
phenomenon is also called “Marble cancer”. Suspended particulate matter,
such as the soot particles emitted by Mathura oil refinery, has contributed
towards yellowing of the marble.
Note: this article may not be linked with the water pollution that may be
caused in the Yamuna River few years down the line. However, it does refer
to the same pollutants that will affect the river in a few years from now.
Data:
As this graph shows, this refinery’s
production as well as capacity is increasing
rapidly therefore, if the capacity accelerates
at this rate; the environment in and around
Mathura is definitely going to be harmed.

5. As the pie chart suggests Delhi is the city primarily responsible for the
pollution in the Yamuna and Mathura is just 4% but this is just now. The
rapid growth of industrialization in Mathura and the IOCL refinery will be a
huge blow to these figures. As mentioned previously in the report, the
refinery wouldn’t only affect the river but after it has it will have an adverse
indirect impact on the earth. Even if it causes little pollution to the Yamuna it
will multiply due to the decomposition of aquatic plants and animals present
in the river.