The Edayar Small Scale Industries Association (ESSIA) has demanded the identification of the real culprits behind the recent mass fish kill in the Periyar through a thorough and evidence-based investigation.
The association raised the demand on behalf of the units and the workers they had engaged at a media briefing in Kochi on Friday. “Else, it will prove the death knell for around 350 small-scale industries. The units along the Edayar industrial belt were blamed for the incident though they had no role in it,” it said.
The association cited how garbage and silt had been getting accumulated near the regulator-cum-bridge in the Periyar after the 2018 floods. The natural flow of the river remains hit as the regulator shutter remains closed. Whenever the shutter is raised, black-coloured water can be seen flowing through it. No such waste was being generated in the Edayar industrial belt, it said.
The association pointed out how organic waste from the market and hospitals in Aluva had been accumulating in the area. This could potentially become toxic in due course and reduce the oxygen level in the river. Chemical waste from big factories could also be a potential pollutant to resolve which the shutter should be kept raised during low tide as directed by the National Green Tribunal.
The association also proposed a public footpath and CCTV cameras along the Periyar bordering the industrial area for better monitoring and transparency. Industrial units discharging waste into the river through pipes with the permission of the Pollution Control Board should also dig an open pit at the end of those discharge pipes for easy monitoring by the public from the footpath.
They requested the inclusion of an ESSIA representative in the committee constituted for regulating pollution. A scientific study should be done on pollution caused by large establishments and the height of their smokestacks should be further raised for reducing air pollution.
Published - May 24, 2024 10:42 pm IST
