KOCHI: The District Collector has ordered the setting up of an empowered committee to recommend long-term programmes for the conservation of the Periyar river. The committee will consist of engineers, green activists and members from the panchayat.

“A number of studies on the river have been undertaken, however, none of them focused on the projects that can be taken up for its conservation. This committee will specifically focus on the projects that can be implemented in the area. The committee will also draw upon the earlier studies on the river,” said District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth.

KOCHI: Ending a long delay in setting up the bridge cum regulator project across the Periyar River at Pathalam and Purappillikkavu, the irrigation department has finally fixed the dates for opening tenders.

The prequalification tenders for setting up the Pathalam bridge will be opened on Monday. At a time when fish deaths is becoming a frequent phenomenon in Periyar, the ambitious project which could have been a permanent solution in containing the issue of fish deaths, has been facing an inordinate delay.

PCB sitting on schemes to check dumping of waste into river

The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been sitting on two key projects meant to check dumping of industrial and other effluents into the Periyar river, pointing to negligence on the part of the agency on a matter of utmost importance.Frequent fish kills and discolouration of the river has already earned several brickbats for the monitoring agency.

KOCHI: Expressing concern over the increasing incidents of fish deaths in the Periyar River, environmentalists brushed aside the claims made by Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) that the fish had died due to oxygen starvation. “It is common for the levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water to go down gradually when the high-level of biodegradable waste in a water body. Under such circumstances, the aquatic organisms living in the region migrate to places where the DO is adequate, rather than dying out.

Setting at rest the controversy over the safety of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, the Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, has said it is “structurally and hydrologically safe, and Tamil Nadu can raise the water level from 136 to 142 feet after carrying out certain repairs.”

In its report submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the committee is understood to have said: “The dam is seismically safe.” Last year's earth tremors in that region “did not have any impact on the Mullaperiyar dam and the Idukki reservoir and there was no danger to the safety of the two dams.”

Endosulfan among toxins found in water samples

The water in most of the areas upstream of the Periyar such as Pathalam bund near the Edayar industrial site, the point where Chalakkal Thodu joins the Periyar, the riverside near FACT and near the Merchem Edayar discharge point contained dangerous chemicals such as endosulfan, according to a report filed before the Kerala High Court by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram.

The entire Western Ghats must be considered as ecologically sensitive, especially to ensure the sustainability of the rivers of the Indian Peninsula, the Madhav Gadgil Committee report has said. Peninsular rivers such as the Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery that drain the Deccan Plateau and flow eastwards originate in the Western Ghats.

KOCHI: A study conducted by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, revealed that the water in the Periyar river is highly toxic. Of the 200 samples collected by the lab from various points of the river, many were found to be poisonous. A report in this regard will be submitted before the High Court in the next week.

A Division Bench of the High Court had asked the NIIST to submit a report on the quality of drinking water from Periyar. The High Court had earlier appointed an Advocate Commission to look into the issue of pollution in Periyar.

5.5 km road runs through an environmentally fragile area

The Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) has recommended that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) provide clearance for the Goshree Island Development Authority's (GIDA) Rs. 97-crore Moolamppilly-Pizhala, Valiya Kadamakkudi-Chathanad Road.