An alarmingly high concentration of Zinc, Cadmium and Nickel is present in the sediments of Vembanad Lake, which could have serious health issues. There has also been six fold increase in chemicals like phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll concentrations along with other pollutants in the Vembanad Lake system, reported the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Kochi.
In its report to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, the Institute also pointed out that the city’s waste water contained many “pollutants and substances of concern including debris, suspended solids, disease-causing pathogens, decaying organic wastes, nutrients and hundreds of chemicals.” Quoting earlier studies, the NIO also pointed out that the metals and organic pollutants were present even in “areas remote from the pollution sources.”
Most of the industrial units that were set up along the banks of Periyar and Chithrapuzha were “set up more than 50 years ago, and employ highly polluting technologies. These industries take large amounts of fresh water from the river Periyar and in turn discharge 260 million litres of concentrated toxic effluents daily after little treatment,” pointed out the Institute.
Indicating the other sources of pollution, the NIO informed the panel that the estuary also regularly received huge volumes of untreated effluents from domestic sector, wastes from aquaculture, agricultural fields, coconut husk retting yards, fish processing plants, and animal bone processing units.
The panel led by Ashwani Kumar has expressed its displeasure over the non-improvement of the environment health system of the Lake even after it flagging the issue for the attention of the authorities.
