A workshop on the problems facing the Periyar on the Eloor-Edayar stretch, including rampant pollution and periodic fish-kills, organised here on Saturday turned stormy on a few occasions but ended with a broad consensus and a call to establish a Periyar River Authority and to launch a Save Periyar Campaign.
The workshop, organised by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, focussed on a recent report by Bijoy Nandan S., associate professor at the Cochin University of Science and Technology. The study was launched after a fish-kill in the first week of April last year.
SPCB chairman K. Sajeevan said suggestions that came up during the workshop would be put together and submitted to the Environment Minister. He said the Board planned to act in a concerted manner to rejuvenate the river, which is the lifeline of central Kerala.
A detail project report on activities, including a long-term study, to rejuvenate the Periyar would be prepared and sources of fund for the project would be identified, he added.
The participants in the workshop were welcomed by a large billboard opposite the entrance to the IMA House that demanded the rejection of the report on the fish-kill. Jana Jagratha activists, who put up the billboard, alleged that the report favoured industry polluters.
The activists, who sometimes interrupted presentations by Mr. Nandan and PCB officials, claimed that several reports had been done on the condition of the Periyar since 1976. However, recommendations in the reports had not been implemented.
Paulose Anthikkad, an Edayar resident, claimed that a lax SPCB had not done anything to clean the Kuzhikkandamthodu.
Purushan Eloor of Jana Jagratha slammed the opinion of a SPCB official that some parts of the Periyar was rich in fish resources while activist S. Sitharaman said officials could not be blamed because what was needed was the political will to rejuvenate the river. He said participants in the workshop must take a resolution to help the campaign and that the Save Periyar Campaign must begin with each of the 46 local bodies located along the course of the rive establishing a unit for the campaign.
Call to establish a Save Periyar Campaign
Project to rejuvenate the Periyar to be prepared
