Thomas calls for action plan on river water

KOCHI: There is an urgent need to formulate a comprehensive plan to treat river water, said Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs K V Thomas.Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the national seminar on ‘Food Safety-Role of Standards’ held here on Monday, the minister said that to ensure the quality of potable water, purification should start from the river source itself. “Treating potable water from where it is pumped out cannot be a suitable solution to the issue of water contamination. Contamination has to be tackled right at the source,” he said.The minister said that when a similar issue had cropped up in connection with the water distributed from the Ganga, the union government had formulated action plans for the purification of river water. Periyar and other rivers in the state need to come under such a project, he said. The matter has been discussed with the Chief Minister and  Water Resources Minister P J Joseph, he added.