CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday urged the State government to take urgent steps to prevent untreated industrial effluents from Karnataka from polluting Thenpennai, citing a recent study that found dissolved oxygen levels in water at the Kelavarapalli dam near Hosur to be 90 times below the normal level.
DT Next on Monday carried a report on how the Thenpennai River is dying a slow death, based on a study.
Based on the report, Anbumani urged the Tamil Nadu government to approach the Supreme Court to seek compensation from Karnataka for the pollution and to put pressure on the neighbouring state to prevent industrial effluents from entering the Thenpennai.
Anbumani said the study conducted by Chennai-based BioSynk found that the river water contained only 0.1 mg of oxygen per litre, against the normal level of 7-9 mg per litre. He also alleged that the levels of phosphorus and nitrates were more than twice the permissible level.
Anbumani said the low oxygen level was responsible for frequent fish deaths in the river and indicated that the Thenpennai was gradually dying. He criticised the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments for failing to act despite repeated directions from the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to prevent the discharge of pollutants into the river.
Recalling his inspection of the Kelavarapalli dam on August 31 last year, he said the oxygen level in the water was then 1.3 mg per litre and had declined by 13 points over the following year.
According to Anbumani, around 132.9 crore litres of untreated industrial waste were being discharged into Thenpennai daily from Karnataka. He said only 29 treatment plants were functioning in Bengaluru and adjoining areas through which 80 crore litres of wastewater could be treated.
He said Karnataka needed 10 new treatment plants in Bengaluru and 12 in other areas, requiring around Rs 5,000 crore. He alleged that the Karnataka government was delaying the projects, citing financial constraints.
Anbumani said water from the Kelavarapalli dam was being used to meet the drinking water needs of Hosur and the requirements of the SIPCOT industrial estate. He added that around 8,000 acres of farmland dependent on the dam were also being affected by polluted water.