PCB sitting on schemes to check dumping of waste into river The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been sitting on two key projects meant to check dumping of industrial and other effluents into the Periyar river, pointing to negligence on the part of the agency on a matter of utmost importance.Frequent fish kills and discolouration of the river has already earned several brickbats for the monitoring agency. Exactly 12 months ago, senior board officials had announced that the Environmental Surveillance Centre of the board at Eloor would monitor the river on a 24-hour basis. The original idea was to keep a close watch on the ecological status of the river by conducting surprise checks in the area. The board had proposed that samples would be taken every two hours from the exit point of industrial outlets opening into the river. The samples would be tested regularly to ascertain whether the industrial units had dumped chemical effluents into the river. It is reliably learnt that the board failed to initiate follow-up action on this project citing shortage of funds and want of support from the government. Environmentalists alleged that the board was hesitant to act against those dumping effluents into the river. They also pointed out that the Environmental Surveillance Centre at Eloor has almost become defunct. In August last year, board Chairman K. Sajeevan had said that the board would set up a continuous (online) ambient air and water quality monitoring station along the Periyar. The project was aimed at introducing a permanent mechanism to check pollution of the river and ensuring the air quality in the Eloor and Edayar industrial areas. Displaying data Mr. Sajeevan had also promised that real time data would be displayed at prominent public places near each station. The board had planned to set up the station at a cost of Rs. 10 lakh downstream of the river. The facility had the provision to record online the pH, conductivity, salinity, temperature, chloride, ammoniacal nitrogen and dissolved oxygen levels. The board could have easily identified those responsible for the fish kill and discolouration of the Periyar, if the facility was set up in the region. If there is a fish kill incident, the board would have been able to analyse the changes in the levels of various physiochemical and bacteriological parameters in the water and compare them with lapses, if any, in the functioning of the nearby industrial units. The involvement of industrial units in the pollution of the river could have been ascertained through such tests. The board has failed to initiate follow-up action on this project citing shortage of funds The project was aimed to introduce a permanent mechanism to check pollution of the river