A pair of jeans may look cleaner after washing, but the water left behind is becoming a serious problem in Thane’s rural belt. Maharashtra’s pollution authorities have ordered 19 unauthorised jeans-washing units in Ambernath and Kalyan to stop work after they were accused of dumping untreated industrial wastewater into streams and the ground, potentially contaminating the Waldhuni, Ulhas and Kalu river systems. Some operators had reportedly moved into rural areas after an earlier crackdown in Ulhasnagar rather than install proper treatment facilities - especially worrying because the Ulhas River supplies drinking water to several cities in Thane district. The latest notices send a fairly simple message: moving pollution out of sight does not make it disappear.