Local bodies sharing the banks of Kadambrayar and Chitrapuzha will be under the scanner of the district administration for their alleged role in the pollution of the river stretches.
The move forms part of steps being taken to rejuvenate the rivers in accordance with the action plan submitted by the State biological oxygen demand (PCB) before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Accordingly, notices will be served on the local bodies for any violation of the tribunal’s directives. The District Level Monitoring Committee appointed by the NGT will oversee the implementation of the directives.
According to the PCB, the local bodies along the rivers lack scientific and efficient waste disposal systems, resulting in the pollution of the waterbodies. Heavy loads of organic and inorganic waste get accumulated in the rivers affecting its normal ecology.
The PCB said the condition of Kadambrayar had been deteriorating due to depletion of oxygen and biological oxygen demand (BOD) value.
“The municipal solid waste plant of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram is on the bank where Kadambrayar and Chithrapuzha unite. In the absence of a proper scientific disposal, leachate, a black coloured liquid coming out of solid waste, reaches Kadambrayar,” it added.
Several establishments have been found discharging untreated or partially treated effluents to drains leading to the river, a reason for the deterioration of water quality. Human intervention and indiscriminate dumping of solid waste and discharge of liquid waste have also adversely affected the flow of the river.
The action plan has recommended that the municipal authorities remain vigilant against dumping of waste into the waterbody and that domestic effluent lines connected to drains leading to the river be closed. The district administration / local body shall ensure that no septage is dumped via tanker lorries into the waterbody.
The action plan on Chitrapuzha suggested the setting up of a waste water treatment facility for the Chambakkara market to prevent dumping of effluents into the river.
The other recommendations include periodic removal of weeds, deepening and cleaning of the entire river stretch to improve the flow and increasing the levels of dissolved oxygen.
The PCB and the Thrikkakara municipal authorities have to identify apartments, hospitals, service stations, markets, and industries in the upstream of Chitrapuzha responsible for the pollution of the river.
