KOCHI: A five-member committee will be constituted to study the pollution level in River Periyar near the Pathalam regulator cum bridge and adjacent areas. The decision has been taken during a meeting convened by district collector Muhammad Y Safirulla with environmentalists and other stakeholders on Sunday to resolve the stalemate over opening of the shutters of Pathalam Bridge. The panel will have representatives of the Irrigation Department, Pollution Control Board, Factories and Boilers Department, Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) and an expert from CUSAT, as suggested by green activists.
The meeting attended by K.B. Babu, the deputy collector of the disaster management cell, and representatives of the Irrigation Department, PCB, BPCL, village officers and green groups was convened as the impasse on opening the bridge’s shutters triggered widespread protests. Six green activists have been protesting in the river downstream near the bridge in a small country boat from Saturday morning. The deputy collector visited the area and had talks with the protesters and agreed to their demands following which the protesters withdrew their strike.
The protests will continue until the lab test results are released and a final decision is taken on opening the shutters. “Though the district collector initially announced a three-member panel, we’ve insisted on inclusion of a CWRDM representative and an expert from CUSAT. The BPCL authorities who have been complaining of high chloride level affecting their unit’s functioning failed to give an explanation on why they were not installing a treatment unit to process the water as per their requirement,” said Purushan Eloor, green activist.
DYFI volunteers clean plastic waste
Thousands of DYFI volunteers have cleaned river Periyar from Neryamangalam to Ernakulam as part of the environment conservation initiatives being taken ahead of the organisation’s 10th national conference. Plastic waste from the river has been collected and removed during the drive. CPM district secretary p. Rajeev and M. Swaraj MLA inaugurated the plastic-free Periyar initiative at Neriyamangalam. Hundreds of volunteers have travelled along the river in country boats and fibre boats and collected huge quantities of plastic waste. In Kothamangalam, the two major ecologically sensitive tourism destinations, Bhoothathankettu and Thattekkadu, have been cleaned.
The banks of the Periyar near the Thattekkad bird sanctuary, an area with rich biodiversity, will be cleaned. The cleaning drive will also be conducted along the river in Okkal near Perumbavoor, Malayatoor, Karumaloor, Veliyathunadu, Chungam, Puthanvelikara, Methanam, Eloor, Cheranalloor and Thaikavu. DYFI block committees in each area will coordinate the event.
CPM politburo M.A Baby inaugurated the environment seminar organised at Aluva which was attended by M.K Sanu, P. Rajeev, M. Swaraj, Kureepuzha SSreekumar and Murukan Kattakada. Meanwhile, green activists have flayed such ‘cosmetic’ programmes organised by the Left, while the state government has not taken any serious measures to prevent the high toxic pollution level in the river. “When the police and the state government are supporting polluting industries while dealing with the activists who have been on the warpath to save Periyar with an iron hand, the DYFI’s initiative is really ridiculous,” remarked Adv. K.K Ashkar, who has appeared for green groups in several environmental cases.
