Kochi: Speakers at a seminar convened by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on Periyar voiced concern over the current state of the river and suggested means to chart out combined action, incorporating the suggestions of environmentalists and ensuring disciplined action from industries and other relevant players in the issue.
Dr S Bijoy Nandan, associate professor of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) who recently prepared an exhaustive report on the pollution levels of the Periyar and reasons of the fish kills in the river, presented the main paper at the seminar. He stressed the points he had said in his study report which was also commissioned by the KSPCB.
Bijoy Nandan pointed out that the fish kill situation was mainly accentuated by the lack of flushing and flow from the upstream to downstream of the river due to the improper closing or opening of the Pathalam bund especially during the summer months.
“The recommendations put forth from the study needs to be implemented soon to get rid of the problem of fish kill and associated ecological issues in the region,” he said stressing the need to preserve the river that mainly supplies drinking water to lakhs of people.
Dr Bijoy Nandan also said that in the absence of efficient flushing, a heavy load of organic and inorganic wastes accumulated at the upstream region of the river, which changed the normal ecology of the river system.
“Higher values of ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate phosphorous, silicate silicon and hydrogen sulphide were also observed in the upstream and downstream before the breakage of the Pathalam bund,” he said.
M Harikrishnan of the School of Industrial Fisheries of Cusat in his presentation said that the Periyar supported a rich diversity comprising 81 fish species belonging to 19 families and 44 genera. It was also found that fisheries in the river consisted of two endangered, three vulnerable and three near threatened fish species.
