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In the developing countries the municipal solid wastes (MSW) are mainly disposed to the open landfills. Since it is the simplest, cheapest and most cost-effective method of waste disposal, this practice is also adopted in the developed countries to some extent. The increasing production of municipal solid waste world over is an important source of groundwater contamination for the unforeseeable future. The industrialization and urbanization of Pune city has resulted in an exponential increase of the wastewater and solid wastes; and the groundwater contamination surrounding Municipal Solid Waste Disposal sites is threatening the health of the people. This is due to an unscientific way of the dumping the solid wastes in an open area leading to the leachates which emerge out and percolate down to the aquifer. Characterization of the leachates is necessary in the assessment of ground water pollution near such disposal sites. In the present study assessment of groundwater during the monsoon season has been carried out for its pollution due to the Uruli Devachi Garbage Depot situated towards SE of Pune city. Using the standard methods various physical and chemical parameters, including some metals, were determined for water samples from twelve dug wells and two streams carrying leachates from the Depot. The results indicate that the water in the streams flowing through the villages around the Garbage depot there is an addition of appreciable amount of and the wells around them show higher values for most of the parameters studied indicating contamination of the groundwater. It has been observed that the amount of pollution in the wells is decreasing with increasing distanced from the stream carrying the leachates. The study warns for the groundwater quality and thus renders the associated aquifer unsuitable for domestic and other uses. However the wells from the Fursungi area, which are farther away from the dumping site, have not been affected by much pollution as the pollutants seems to have been filtered through the soils before entering into the aquifer. The present study of the water samples collected during the monsoon season, indicate that even though the recharge of groundwater is in progress, the wells nearing the waste disposal site are considerably polluted. It is predicted that in the post monsoon (winter season) the amount of pollution would increase and reaching it's highest during the summer season. This study will continue the assessment of the ground water quality due to the seasonal variations by sampling the water samples in winter and summer.
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