Alarmed by the increasing incidents of pollution of water resources in the State, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has decided to set up a continuous (online) ambient air and water quality monitoring station along the Periyar River.
The project aimed at introducing a permanent mechanism to check pollution of the Periyar and ensuring the air quality in the Eloor and Edayar industrial areas will be implemented within three months. All analysers will work round-the-clock. Real time data will be displayed at prominent public places near each station.
The water quality monitoring station will be set up at a cost of Rs. 10 lakh at a spot near the downstream of the river. Elaborating on the highlights of the facility, K. Sajeevan, chairman of the board, told The Hindu on Tuesday that the station will record online the pH, conductivity, salinity, temperature, chloride, ammoniacal nitrogen and dissolved oxygen levels. These parameters will be recorded and monitored regularly.
Mr. Sajeevan said that any variation in the levels could be detected easily by verifying the records. If there is a fish kill incident, the board will be able to analyse the changes in the levels of various physiochemical and bacteriological parameters in the water and compare it with lapses, if any, in the functioning of the nearby industrial units. The involvement of industrial units in the pollution of the river could be ascertained through such tests, he said.
The proposed air monitoring station will come up near the ESI Hospital at Eloor. Mr. Sajeevan said that the facility will be set up at a cost of Rs. 12 lakh. The unit will display the sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide levels. Referring to the demand made by the fishermen that compensation should be provided to them in view of the recent fish kill incidents, the chairman said that board will not be able to take a unilateral decision. The PCB will submit their request before the government, he said.
