CHENNAI: Kosasthalaiyar river turned brown yet again after large amounts of effluent were discharged through one of the industrial outlet pipes near Kattukuppam village of Ennore on Saturday afternoon.
Kattukuppam fishermen spotted the discharge at about 1 pm while returning from fishing.
Express visited the spot and saw the discharge which looked oily. The discharge could be traced to an outlet pipe near an industry close to Kattukuppam about 2km away from Mugathwara Kuppam where it was spotted. By 5 pm, the whole river, on which about 800 fisher families depend on, was covered.
‘’When we went to the spot, the outlet pipe was hidden with tree branches and thorn plants,’’ said M Raja (43), who first spotted the chemical. He said the fishermen came together and, with great effort, found the chemical’s source. Officials from the industry could not be reached.
In May, Express had reported a similar incident of substances being discharge into the Kosasthalaiyar from the same source. “This is the fourth time the discharge is occurring. The pollution control board inspected it once but no solution has been found,’’ said Raja, adding Kattukuppam village is often affected as it is hardly half a kilometre from industries.
“Since oil companies were set up in Ennore, this has been occurring often,’’ said Pooja Kumar, an environmental activist who rallied for industrial accountability under the Save Ennore Creek campaign.
R Anbu, another fisherman of the village, said the discharge has put their livelihood and health in peril. ‘’We get down on the river to catch ‘Poochi’, but every time this discharge occurs, fishermen fear of getting into the water,’’ he said. In Ennore, multiple skin issues, such as lesions, rashes and skin tears, prevail among fishermen.
“About `3000 goes off as medical expenses when we get health issues. Some fishermen’s eyes get itchy and red because of this water,’’ he said, adding that aquatic life had become nil in the village due to constant pollution. “Vaval, Kanakalatha and prawns have completely disappeared from the river.’’
State pollution control board officials were not available for comment while State Environment and Forests Department officials said that they would make inspection at Ennore at the earliest.