The Eloor-Edayar industrial space on the banks of the Periyar. The Excessive Court docket has mentioned that it’ll tolerate no additional delay in addressing the air pollution of the river. , Photograph Credit score: FILE PHOTO
Expressing concern on the persevering with large-scale dumping of hazardous waste into the Periyar and the obvious slack cooperation between the Middle and the State in cleansing up the river, the Kerala Excessive Court docket noticed that the The air pollution stage within the river posed an imminent hazard to folks.
That is largely on account of dumping of hazardous waste into Kuzhikandam Creek, a tributary of the Periyar. Citing the shortage of synergy, the courtroom mentioned that the Middle and the State had been citing excuses, as an alternative of working collectively to wash up the river.
A Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice MB Snehalatha ordered the competent authority on the Middle to begin discussions with the Secretary (Setting), Authorities of Kerala, to establish a viable resolution, together with an alternate web site for effluent remedy. The courtroom additional directed stakeholders to think about the provisions of the Catastrophe Administration Act to sort out air pollution.
It additionally took observe of an alternate suggestion by Adv. AX Varghese to rejuvenate Kuzhikandam Creek through the use of the infrastructure of Fertilizers and Chemical compounds Travancore Restricted (FACT). The courtroom mentioned that it might tolerate no additional delay on the problem of the air pollution of the Periyar and the necessity to clear up the creek.
It had been reported that hazardous chemical compounds, together with DDT, Benzene Hexachloride, and Endosulfan, had been detected at greater ranges in all sediment samples collected from Kuzhikandam Creek and its sub-drains, following the mass fish kill within the Eloor-Edayar industrial stretch of the Periyar on Might 20, 2024.
Sulphate focus within the samples was additionally discovered to be excessive. The best focus of DDT (210.4 mg/kg) had been detected close to the discharge level of Hindustan Pesticides Restricted, close to the creek, based mostly on the evaluation of sediment samples collected from the creek and its sub-drains becoming a member of the river.
The findings had subsequently been included within the report of the knowledgeable committee constituted by the Excessive Court docket to research the mass fish kill alongside the commercial stretch of the river in 2024.
Revealed – October 17, 2025 02:12 am IST