Kochi: After a short gap, river Periyar turned black again near Pathalam regulator-cum-bridge on Tuesday as greens alleged factories on the banks of discharging effluent waste in the cover of heavy rains.
“There were several incidents in the past when the release of chemical waste from the factories resulted in fish kill. This happens when the water level is low, leading to depletion of oxygen. However, it rained heavily from yesterday night and companies chose to release industrial waste at that time to avoid fish kill as the water level is more,” said Mahesh Kumar V, activist of Janajagrata Samithi, Eloor.
He said that the effluent release has polluted the upstream too from where drinking water for the city areas is being sourced.
“The factories have tacit understanding with officials of the irrigation department as the regulator will be opened hours before the colour of the river changes,” he charged.
When contacted, PCB environmental engineer P.B. Sree Lakshmi refuted the charges, saying it received no complaints in this regard. “We’ve collected samples even last week and no polluting factors could be detected,” she said.
The PCB mooted setting up of bio filters in a couple of industrial units on an experimental basis to reduce odour from effluents but the same is yet to be implemented.
Discolouration of Periyar and fish kill has been a serious issue for last couple of years. Decrease in dissolved oxygen level has caused fish-kills more than 25 times in the past two years.
