Green rain

We all know what ‘acid rain’ is, don’t we? But do you know what ‘green rain’ is?

For those who are not aware of acid rain – acid rain is a kind of unusual rain caused due to pollution in the air. SOx (sulfur dioxide) and NOx (nitrogen oxide) react with water molecules in the falling rain and turn this water acidic, that is it turns the water that is at pH 7 to one that is less than 7. This can happen with not just rain but other kinds of precipitation too, like snow, hail etc. Corrosive substances are mostly acids and hence we know that acid rains can have a destructive effect on things it comes in touch with. History tells us that the famous Taj Mahal has been a victim to this.

A recent incident in the Dombivali area in Maharashtra, India, witnessed something known as the ‘green rain’. January is not the month for monsoon here, but it rained due to unusual weather conditions and to the horror of the people – everything around them had turned green. A daily newspaper Times of India, reports these findings and the reasons behind it.

Now, fortunately this rain has not had the same destructive effects as acid rain has on the environment (may be it has on the minds of the people who saw this). This incident has exposed yet another chemical manufacturing facility, in this case – Omkar Engineering, a chemical unit, whose unit is in Dombivali’s MIDC, that has not taken pollution control measures seriously.

Green is called nature’s color, a soothing color, but we now know this doesn’t apply everywhere.