Residents of Keezhmadu, where groundwater has been found contaminated with ammonium perchlorate, will get 500 litres of water every day to meet their daily requirements, District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam has said.
The Collector, who visited the affected area on Tuesday, has also ordered a health screening on Sunday for residents. The families in the area will be provided 500-litre tanks to store water. Tankers were so far providing water to the area only on alternate days.
Mr. Rajamanickam held talks with officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has a unit in Keezhmadu. ISRO officials have agreed to inspect wells in the area and help other government agencies involved in the probe to find the source of contamination. The Pollution Control Board and the departments of groundwater and health had inspected the area on Monday.
It is believed that the ISRO unit could be the source of water contamination.
Ammonium perchlorate from the unit is disposed of into the sea by taking it to a barge via tankers. The ISRO will join the district administration’s efforts in extending support to the affected families by supplying them with 500-litre tanks.
Mr. Rajamanickam said the CSIR scientist who detected the contamination was asked to file a report on the issue. The health department that had collected samples from 41 wells found high levels of ammonium perchlorate in 38 wells. In three wells, traces of the chemical were found to be within permissible levels.
