KOCHI: Amidst growing concerns over water pollution, authorities opened the shutters of Pathalam bund on Monday. The move comes after days of tension at Eloor where environmental activists rowed out into the river a canoe to protest against the opening of the shutters. The greens launched their protest following discolouration of the water in Periyar river and a drop in the chloride level in the drinking water.
According to officials, the shutters were opened after a meeting held between the environmental activists and the District Collector Muhammed Y Safeerullah on Sunday.
“The protest has ended and we have opened the shutters. Pollution Control Board officials have collected water samples for investigation and the results are expected soon. Further action will be taken based on the PCB report,” said an official.
Meanwhile, environmentalists and local residents said the decision to ease the protests is a temporary one. “There has been no let up in pollution.
Water continues to remain black, but we decided to allow the shutters to be opened after the Collector visited the place in the morning. We, now, await the report of the Pollution Control Board on the quality of the river water and will decide our future course of action based on it,” said a local resident.
Earlier, on Sunday, it was decided to constitute a committee to study the matter. The committee is to submit its report within a month. The five-member committee will have one member each from Kerala Water Authority, Department of Irrigation, Department of Factories and Boilers, Centre for Water Resources Development and Management and a member of the ‘samara samithi’.
People living at Pathalam are a tensed lot with the river water turning black. The lower reaches of Periyar is often called a cesspool of toxins. Lack of oxygen in water has led to an increase in fish deaths by more than 25 times in last two years. Sources said that due to a drop in dissolved oxygen content the water gets discoloured and gradually turns black. Drop in dissolved oxygen will severely impact the ecology of the stream.