The storm water drains in the Edayar industrial area have turned into easy routes to discharge untreated waste water as tests conducted by the State Pollution Control Board have found exceeding levels of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), a proxy for organic pollution, in samples collected from the drains leading to the Periyar river.
The tests were conducted after the National Green Tribunal and the State Level Monitoring Committee on Solid Waste Management (SLMC) repeatedly pulled up the government for the delay in acting against those responsible for the pollution of the Periyar. The SLMC had earlier expressed doubts on whether effluents and untreated waste water were discharged into the river through the pipes and drains meant to release rainwater. The untreated sewage was found to have discharged through 15 storm water drains.
As per the tests conducted by the board, the BOD level was higher than the ideal limit of 3 mg/l prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board in the samples. The board had sought the assistance of the District Industries Centre (DIC) to clean up the drains and initiate steps to check the discharge of untreated waste water from industrial units. However, no concrete steps were taken yet to stop the illegal practice.
According to senior board officials, the DIC had recently started cleaning up a drain close to the river near the Pathalam bund. “The thick vegetation near the bund, which had denied access to the inspection teams, was also removed partially. However, much work is left and we have asked the Industries Department to speed up the process,” they said.
Board officials admitted that no action has been taken on the recommendation by the SLMC to find out whether underground pipes starting from the industrial units were used to discharge industrial waste into the river. A report filed by the committee in September last had included photographs of drains through which industrial effluents had reached the river.
