The mass death of fish in the Edayar stretch of the Periyar last week has prompted environmentalists to once again raise voice against the government’s decision to mine sand from river beds after a gap of nearly a decade. Though sand mining has not been carried out in the State since 2016 for want of environmental clearance, river protection activists feel that any move in this direction will not help the river conditions to improve.
“Sand mining will lead to further deterioration of rivers but what is needed is the removal of sediments and slush to allow free waterflow,” said Eloor Gopinath, environmental activist and State general secretary of Periyar Protection Council.
“What often happens is that people tend to exploit the situation. Any move to remove slush and sediments will result in unscrupulous elements dredging river sand for commercial purposes, which is detrimental to river health,” he added.
T.N. Prathapan, championing the cause of rivers, said the Periyar, which was already overexploited and on the brink of death, should not be allowed to die. He claimed that the pressure on the Kerala State Pollution Control Board and the absence of a firm stand on the part of the Disaster Management Authority had led to a situation where the health of the river was in an extremely poor condition.
The activists said that if sand mining was allowed, it would lead to formation of large trenches in the river bed. It was a false claim that sand mining would help the river carry more water, they added.
Kerala Grama Swaraj Foundation too expressed concern and protested against the poor condition of rivers and last week’s fish kill in the Periyar. Fish farmers should be compensated for their losses, said Purushan Eloor, who inaugurated a protest meeting organised by the foundation here.
