As many as 37 hotspots of pollution along the Pampa will be monitored for water quality, under the Save Pampa, Save Vembanad campaign taken up by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) in association with the Pampa River Basin Authority.
The CWRDM will deploy its mobile laboratory to analyse water samples collected from different locations along the river. The samples will be collected immediately after the annual Makaravilakku season of the Sabarimala pilgrimage when the pollution peaks.
Based on the results of the analysis, health cards will be issued to the local bodies on either bank of the river, according to the campaign document released by Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph here on Monday.
The analysis will be repeated every three months and the health card updated. A report on the analysis will be submitted to the local bodies as well as government departments and agencies for necessary action. The first round of analysis has been completed, authority director George Chackacherry said.
The document says the pollution caused by human waste during the Sabarimala pilgrimage, solid and liquid waste discharged from panchayats and municipalities in the catchment area, sand-mining, soil erosion, and depletion of biodiversity were the main threats to the Pampa and the downstream of the Vembanad wetland, classified as a Ramsar site.
It is the water from the Pampa that flushes out the wastes accumulated in the Vembanad system to the sea. Therefore, the document says, the health of the Pampa is crucial to the sustainability of the Vembanad ecosystem.
The campaign also includes awareness programmes for elected representatives and sanitary workers, lectures, distribution of brochures, discussions in schools, an NGO meet, poster and essay competitions for students, a stakeholder workshop, and a seminar on conservation and management of the Pampa and the Vembanad.
P.J. Joseph releases campaign document
Health cards to be issued to local bodies
