Is the Phalguni (Gurupura) turning out to be a major sewage drain?
If Tuesday’s condition of the river is to be considered, it appears that the days of Phalguni becoming a major sewage drain are not far away. When The Hindu visited the Maravoor (Malavoor) vented dam across the river on Tuesday morning, water downstream the dam appeared blackish. On careful examination, the retaining walls too appeared to have become blackish which was clearly visible due to the low tide. Since no fresh water was let out from the Malavoor dam, the contamination appeared concentrated on the downstream, which was aggravated by the low tide.
Downstream, the water as well as retaining walls had become blackish at Kenjar, Thokur and Kuloor. When asked, a resident of Thokur responded saying, “What would happen if all the industrial waste and sewage is let out into the river.”
Sewage contamination
Fishermen leader Vasudeva Boloor said that sewage from the city is being let into the Phalguni at many places and this could be the reason for contamination of the water. He had brought this to the notice of the Mayor recently.
“This is a dangerous development for environment as well as fishermen as the polluted water would affect marine life. We would demand immediate action from authorities concerned to prevent further pollution,” he told The Hindu .
Industrial waste
While not many major industries are located exactly on the banks of the Phalguni, it was suspected that the Kudumbur rivulet passing through Baikampady Industrial Area might have brought the effluents into this river.
Such chances are less, said Gaurav Hegde from Kanara Small Industries Association, who regretted that most of the industrial waste from Baikampady is going into the Baggundi Lake. Water from the lake normally does not flow into the Kudumbur rivulet, he said while stating that the industrial area does not have a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP).
Rajashekar Puranik, Environment Officer with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Mangaluru, said that big industries in Baikampady have their own effluent treatment plants, while major industries such as MRPL and BASF, let out treated effluent to the sea.
Mr. Puranik, however, said that he would inspect the river course on Wednesday to see for himself.
