KOCHI: Hundreds of people, protesting against the alarming levels of pollution in the River Periyar, laid siege to the office of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board in Eloor on Saturday alleging that the Board had revoked the order to close down Sree Sakthi Paper Mills Ltd accused of dumping toxic effluents to the river.
The agitators, who closed the doors of the office from outside, have held three staff members hostage. The women staff members were allowed to leave the office at 5 p.m while three male staff members including assistant engineer Eby Varghese are being held captive inside the office, said an agitator.
“We demand the PCB to issue a fresh closure notice against the company and file criminal case against it for polluting the river,” said Shabir O.V, an Eloor native and member of the Jana Jagratha Samithi. “We needed an assurance from the authorities including the district administration that action will be taken against the guilty,” he added.
The district Collector has failed to take any action despite repeated incidents of fish death due to high levels of pollution in the river, said another activist.
“The Collector, not visiting Eloor despite the day-long protest, deserves to be condemned,” he added.
The protesters are angry that the Board has revoked the closure notice issued to the company three days ago without any improvement in the situation. The people made a garland of dead fish from the river to highlight the toxicity level and the failure of the office to take appropriate measures to prevent the recurring incidents of fish death.
The Environmental Surveillance Centre of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board at Eloor had served a closure notice to the company on Wednesday stating that the dissolved oxygen levels near the Pathalam Bridge and regulator were found to be alarmingly low.
The order stated that river water, in and around the factory, has been found to be of inferior quality. The order stated that the “situation is so alarming that the huge quantity of the untreated effluent having a high degree of BOD (biochemical oxygen demand)” may result in imminent fish kill in the region. The permissible level of BOD in the effluent is 30 mg per litre while the effluent released by the company has BOD levels of around 1,000 mg per litre.
