Kochi: The impasse over the opening of the shutters of Pathalam Bridge was resolved on Monday after district collector Mohammed Y. Safirulla’s visit for a first-hand understanding of the situation. The irrigation department opened them at 12.45 pm. On Tuesday, the Pollution Control Board officials, who also visited the spot, would submit a detailed report about the quality of the water collector before and after the opening. The green activists spearheading an agitation against it said they would respond after getting the PCB report.
“We are not for any confrontation with the administration. Our struggle was to highlight the contamination of the river water by toxic effluents and a solution for the same,” said Purushan Eloor. The industrial, animal and other wastes stagnant in the regulator were washed away the downstream in three hours after releasing the shutters. The water level in the river also came down by at least one ft.
The district administration and greens were in a tussle in the past three days over opening the gates on the pretext of high levels of chloride content in the river water. The greens alleged the hurry was to wash away the accumulated wastes to save to industrial units allegedly dumping toxic effluents. The collector's visit was as per the commitment to them. The Eloor panchayat had earlier passed two resolutions calling for the visit. The river water, red colour in the morning, turned to black by noon, residents said.
