It is a crime. Numerous factories deliberately inject untreated effluents directly into the ground, contaminating underground aquifers. Down To Earth got samples of groundwater collected from eight places in three states and tested them for concentrations of some known pollutants. All samples had high levels of the heavy metal mercury, which caused the Minamata disaster in Japan in the 1950s. One sample had more than 268 times the mercury than is considered safe. Groundwater in the industrial areas of India is unfit even for agriculture