India's ground water resources are being poisoned by untreated effluents dumped by industrial units and samples have shown 'alarmingty high' presence of mercury, the most toxic of metal pollutants and other heavy metals, says a new study. As 80 per cent of the country's water needs are met by groundwater, its contamination is an ominous indicator of industrial disasters waiting to happen, says the study conducted by Down to Earth (DTE) and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). As part of the study the DTE and CSE collected water samples from eight places in the three states of Haryana, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh.