Effluents from industries discharged into Periyar, green activists protest

Activists handed over the samples to the PCB and have demanded stringent action against the polluting industries.
Effluents from industries discharged into Periyar, green activists protest

KOCHI: Amid allegations that the Pollution Control Board is turning a blind eye to the discharge of chemical effluents to river Periyar at Pathalam in Eloor Industrial area, activists have released a video footage of rust red water flowing into the river from a drain. Activists handed over the samples to the PCB and have demanded stringent action against the polluting industries.

Activist Ashkar Khadar had uploaded a video footage of effluent flowing into the river near Pathalam on Thursday that created a flutter with people living in  downstream areas demanding action against the erring industries.“There are many chemical industries in Eloor and Edayar that violate the effluent treatment guidelines set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). We have been agitating against the discharge of toxic effluent into the river for years. But the PCB says there is no proof. Now we have collected the sediment samples from the effluent which was handed over to the PCB,” said Purushan Eloor, an environment activist.

The local residents found the rust red effluent flowing into the river near the Pathalam Regulator-cum-bridge at 11 am on Thursday. They informed the PCB authorities and checked the drain through which it was flowing. The industry had connected the pipeline carrying effluent to an irrigation department drain which made it difficult to trace the source. “The effluent was flowing into the river for three hours. But as the news spread it stopped.

There is a manhole about 200m away from the spot and we checked it to find the source of the effluent. There are many industries in the area and we hope the PCB will be able to find the erring company,” he said. According to Purushan, it is mandatory for the companies to display the name and chemical composition of their products. But most of the companies at Eloor don’t follow the guidelines. “If the PCB does not know the chemicals processed in an industry, what relief operation will they conduct if there is a toxic gas leak,” asked Purushan.

“We have sent the samples to the laboratory for testing. It will take 10 days to get the results. As the central laboratory of PCB is under renovation, we have to depend on another lab. Meanwhile, we have issued notice to the industries in Edayar to furnish details of the chemical products and the system 
for processing effluents,” said PCB environmental engineer K S Vinaya.

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