KOCHI: The pipe laid for carrying water from the Periyar river to the paddy fields of Edayar has proven more a bane than a boon, as it has become a conduit for the effluents from nearby industries.
Recently, following protests by farmers and residents that the industries are clandestinely releasing their effluents into the river using the irrigation pipe, Irrigation department officials have begun a probe.
According to Shabir O V, a resident and an environmental activist, the irrigation needs of Edayattuchal paddy fields were earlier met by a canal, which was filled during the construction of the Pathalam regulator-cum-bridge.
“Though a pipe was laid instead, it was done without any proper scientific study. Not a single drop of water comes from it,” he said, adding that when the paddy fields are dry, however, one will be able to see murky and filthy water coming out of the pipe.
Shabir stated that a huge swath of land along the river bank has been encroached upon by various industries in the area, and that these factories might have placed pipes into the irrigation pipe surreptitiously.
After the Irrigation department was notified of the same, it sent multiple letters to the office of the tahsildar, but no action has been taken, he added.
Meanwhile, the Irrigation department is in the process of preparing another notice directing the tahsildar to take immediate action to clear out the encroachments on the purambokku land.