NGT pulls up Kerala government for not taking steps to prevent Periyar pollution

The body said that the authorities’ reports in the last several years do not show any improvement in Periyar’s water quality

Noting the continuing pollution of the Periyar river in Kerala, and its consequences on public health as well as the environment, the National Green Tribunal observed that it was a “crime against humanity” and the “victims are poor voiceless people”.

NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, while going through the petitions against the pollution in the Periyar, said that the authorities’ reports in the last several years do not show any improvement in Periyar’s “water quality at any of the locations in question”.

Saying that the Kerala state government must execute its earlier short- and long-term action plan, the NGT asked the state to set up a high-level monitoring committee of four additional chief secretaries of the departments concerned—environment, local self-governance, irrigation/water resources and finance—to execute the cleaning plan submitted with the tribunal earlier.

“Pollution is a crime… Right to (a) clean environment is a part of Right to Life,” NGT’s order said, stating that “most of the victims are poor voiceless people”.

“Periyar River in Kerala falls in the list of identified polluted river stretches under ‘Priority-V’ category Aluva-Eloor to Kalamassery to Kalamassery, having BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) range between 3-6.0 mg/l,” stated the order.

“Since (the) discharge of untreated sewage into the river is a criminal offence under the water act, it must be stopped immediately,” the Green Bench said.