KOCHI: Realising the gravity of pollution in the Periyar, the State Pollution Control Board is coming up with a highly sensitive system to monitor the purity of water in the river. The PCB will install an online monitoring system which will examine the purity of water in the Periyar and display the results simultaneously. The sensing unit of the monitoring system will be installed mid-river while the main unit will be set up at a Mosque building near IRE Junkar Jetty, Eloor. The total project cost is expected to be Rs 25 lakh. “The Periyar is polluted owing to the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents. So the PCB is going to establish a monitoring station. The monitoring network will check all critical parameters. Water samples will be analysed periodically,” PCB Chairman K Sajeevan told Express. The public can check the data regarding water quality on a real-time basis. “A display unit with huge screens will be placed at the FACT Junction. The public can check the updated information on water purity. The public can give their opinion and suggestions according to the data,” Sajeevan said. “It is a necessity to avail of accurate information about the issue and know precisely what the problem is, where does it occur, how serious it is, and what is causing it. such information is necessary for a lasting solution to water-related problems,” he added. The equipment for the monitoring system has been imported from Germany and it will be operational within a month. “The system will work using a sensor that will be placed mid-river where there is a heavy flow of water. For supporting the sensor, a fence will be up to the sea from the river bank,” PCB Ernakulam Regional office Chief Environmental Engineer M S Mythili said. However, All-Kerala River Protection Council general secretary C M Joy said the move by the PCB is hoodwinking. “Periyar, the longest river in the state is considered to be the life-line of Central Kerala. The Eloor industrial belt situated on the banks of the Periyar is one of the world’s top toxic hot-spots, with more than 250 chemical industries, manufacturing petrochemical products, pesticides, rare-earth elements, rubber processing chemicals, fertilisers, zinc/ chrome products and leather products. These industries discharge highly polluted effluents daily into the river. This has led to large-scale devastation of aquatic life in the river and the agricultural lands nearby,” he said. The monitoring system is a general one. The public have been demanding a fixed standard for treating the industrial waste. The PCB has been following the method implemented 20 years ago, he added.National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), after analysing the water samples from the Periyar/Edayar, has reported that due to the discharge of untreated effluents into the river, there is substantial contamination of water and soil with DDT, BHC and Endosulfan. The samples were collected from Panachithode, Kunthithode and Kuzhikkandam creek - the tributaries of the Periyar.
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