This story is from September 24, 2014

Guess who else is draining waste water into Periyar River at Aluva?

The Aluva municipality is discharging waste water from all the three drainages in the town into river Periyar which serves the drinking water needs of Kochi and suburbs.
Guess who else is draining waste water into Periyar River at Aluva?
KOCHI: The Aluva municipality is discharging waste water from all the three drainages in the town into river Periyar which serves the drinking water needs of Kochi and suburbs. Municipal authorities have also admitted that they treat only waste water from one of the three waste water outlets before discharging the same into the river.
At a meeting with officials of the British High Commission on Tuesday, municipal authorities sought the help of UK government to construct treatment plants at two other outlets.

The drains from Aluva town open into the river near municipal market, near Adwaitha Ashramam and near Marthanda Varma Bridge. Of the three outlets, a treatment plant has been set up only for the drain close to Adwaitha Ashramam. "Of the three, the outlets near Adwaitha Ashram and municipal market discharge the maximum amount of waste water. This is discharged into the river round the clock. Most of the institutions in the town drain their waste water, including that from bathrooms, into the river," said Aluva municipality councillor Latheef Puzhithra.
According to KWA officials, the issue has been reported to headquarters. "We have requested the top brass to take measures to ensure that the municipal authority constructs treatment plant at points they discharge waste water into the river. It is mainly biowaste, and there are hardly any chemicals in the waste discharged by Aluva municipal authorities," a KWA official said.
Municipal authorities claimed that they couldn't set up treatment plants due to shortage of funds. "The construction of plants for treating water from drains should get priority among projects to be implemented with British help," said Aluva municipality chairman M T Jacob.
Officials with the municipality said the pollution caused by the civic body was negligible compared to the damage caused by other civic bodies. "Municipalities such as Perumbavoor drain huge quantity of waste into the river, and factories in Eloor contaminate the river with hazardous chemicals," said Aluva municipality executive engineer Renuka S.
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