The Hindu Business Line : Panel moots monitoring mechanism to check Periyar water quality

THE Local Area Environment Committee has recommended the setting up of a permanent laboratory by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board for round-the-clock monitoring mechanism to check water quality in the Periyar.

In its report submitted to the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) on Hazardous Wastes, the Local Area Environment Committee said that it has identified 11.250 cents of land near Eloor ferry for the project.

The idea of setting up a permanent monitoring mechanism is modelled on the lines of the river authority envisaged in the Periyar River Action Plan.

According to the Action Plan, the authority would conduct regular monitoring in Periyar River and would suggest measures to improve the quality of the river.

Besides co-ordinating the activities of various departments and NGOs, the authority will carry out regular research on the ecological status of the river. It will also undertake maintenance of embankments and suggest measures for further improvement of riverbanks.

The Action Plan had recommended that a Chairman who would be directly appointed by the Government should head the authority. A board of members would monitor the activities of the authority.

The board would consist of people's representatives, environmentalists, NGOs, voluntary organisations, representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, forest department, legal sector, media, factories, agriculture, irrigation and land use board, mining and geology, local bodies, district administration, tourism department, State Pollution Control Board and State Electricity Board.

The report submitted to the Supreme Court Committee has also recommended that regular air monitoring should be conducted in Eloor and Edayar and has suggested that ambient air quality monitoring should be conducted in view of the frequent incidents of fugitive emission in Eloor and Edayar industrial belt.

The Environment Committee also urged the Pollution Control Board to utilise the services of the mobile ambient air monitoring system in Eloor and Edayar. The unit has been lying idle for the last several months after it developed technical problems.

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