Around 600 wells in Cheruvatheri affected by a gold manufacturing unit
Thrissur: The residents of Cheruvatheri in Avinissery panchayat here are concerned over the rising pollution level in nearly 600 wells in the region. Several residents have moved the High Court over the groundwater pollution allegedly caused by a major gold manufacturing unit in the area which discharges water containing acid used in the factory. However, the Pollution Control Board officials at its district office say that the source of acid content in groundwater is yet to be proved.
On August 22, State Human Rights Commission had issued an order to the Avanissery panchayat citing that till the HC passes a verdict, the civic body has to provide drinking water to the residents affected by acid content in their wells. “The company was started in 2007 and by 2013 the production of gold ornaments in the company grew by several fold. Since then, the pH level in the wells in the locality close to the factory was deteriorating.
(The indicator for acidity, alkalinity or basic is known as the pH value). The latest report on pH conducted by department of Soil Science and Agri Chemistry at College of Horticulture in Vellanikkara shows a pH level as low as 3.53, whereas the normal level is 7,” Mr T.V. Chandran, a resident and leader of the Samara Samiti told DC. Mr P.K. Baburajan, environmental engineer of PCB here, said that at present a proper treatment plant was functioning and that the discharge from the factory was well within the permissible limits.
