Only 27% of 3,606 water sources surveyed in the State are not polluted, the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority has found. An equal percentage of the water sources, however, are completely polluted. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan released the survey report at a seminar on environmental conservation here on Sunday.
The survey was held in 2,003 wards covering all districts. It found that all of the unpolluted water sources were used as drinking water sources. As many as 46.10% of the water sources were partly polluted. These were used for bathing, farming, washing clothes, and bathing animals. In Wayanad even polluted water sources were being used for drinking.
The water sources surveyed included 1,302 ponds, 941 canals, 153 river stretches, 1,107 public wells, 16 backwater stretches, and others 87, which include springs and ‘olikal’ of Idukki, ‘pallam’ of Kasaragod, canals of Pathanamthitta.
The survey also sheds light on the causes of the pollution of the water sources. Solid waste accounts for 53% of the pollution, liquid waste 16.97%, household waste 23.24% , and encroachments 7%. Of solid waste, hotel waste accounted for 40% of the pollution. While plastic and glass accounted for 20% of the pollution, other waste was responsible for 30.55% .
Polluted sources
As many as 55.20% of the water sources were polluted owing to domestic use, including water from hotels. Pollution from industries (11%) was much less than that caused by washing vehicles (20%) and bathing animals (10.3%).
The survey report found that partly polluted waste sources could be easily cleaned, while projects needed to be drawn up to renovate totally polluted sources. A major reason for the threat faced by water sources such as wells, ponds, and canals was lack of protection walls (40%). Sand mining (28%) was responsible for rivers, canals, and backwaters getting polluted.
Encroachments, excessive fertilizer use, filling of fields, quarrying, deforestation, plastic menace, and destruction of springs and water channels were destroying water sources, the report said.
Indifferent public
The survey teams that visited 58,463 houses across the State found that 70% of those living near water sources had some idea of the causes for the pollution. However, even these people were not actively taking part in environment conservation activities. Moreover, their incapability to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle could be the reason for the pollution of water sources.
