KOCHI: Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) seems to be clueless about the exact reason behind the presence of thousands of worms near the Sivarathri manapuram along the banks of the Periyar River in Aluva near here.
Despite making it clear that the worms were harmless, the board authorities have not been able to ascertain the source and the reason behind the incident, which had triggered panic among the public during the last two days. The worms were found near the water treatment plant at Aluva that pumps about 250 million litres of water to the Greater Cochin areas and nearby panchayats daily.
According to the board sources, the aquatic worm is Neries and it belongs to the class Polychaeta. Mostly found in stagnant waters having high content of nutrients, the worms are harmless, they said.
M. S. Mythili, Chief Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, Ernakulam said that certain favourable conditions would have led to the presence of the worms in the river. She said that the non-availability of fish, which consume the worms, in the waters might be another reason for the huge presence of the organism. Ms. Mythili said the board has no plans to investigate the case further but would take it up, if the incident occurs again.
Stating that the quality of water being pumped from the treatment plant at Aluva has not been affected by the presence of the worms, Jolly Thomas, executive engineer of the quality control wing, said that the worms were found nearly 200 metres away from the intake point of the plant. She said that the worms were located opposite the treatment well. Ms. Thomas said that there was no reason to panic, as the water quality was found safe.
Environmentalists have alleged that indiscriminate sand mining combined with unchecked dumping of solid waste in to the river seem to have resulted in the presence of worms in such huge quantities. S. Sitaraman, secretary of the Association for Environment Protection at Aluva, alleged that huge quantities of silt had piled up in the river thanks to the indiscriminate and illegal sand mining in the area, he said.
Pointing out that the biological oxygen demand level had gone up in the river considerably, Prof. Sitaraman said that huge quantities of slaughter waste from the municipality and panchayat regions in Aluva were dumped in to the river regularly. He said that the ecology of the river had changed considerably following the indiscriminate human interference on the biodiversity of the region.
Source :The Hindu, 4-9-2010
Despite making it clear that the worms were harmless, the board authorities have not been able to ascertain the source and the reason behind the incident, which had triggered panic among the public during the last two days. The worms were found near the water treatment plant at Aluva that pumps about 250 million litres of water to the Greater Cochin areas and nearby panchayats daily.
According to the board sources, the aquatic worm is Neries and it belongs to the class Polychaeta. Mostly found in stagnant waters having high content of nutrients, the worms are harmless, they said.
M. S. Mythili, Chief Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, Ernakulam said that certain favourable conditions would have led to the presence of the worms in the river. She said that the non-availability of fish, which consume the worms, in the waters might be another reason for the huge presence of the organism. Ms. Mythili said the board has no plans to investigate the case further but would take it up, if the incident occurs again.
Stating that the quality of water being pumped from the treatment plant at Aluva has not been affected by the presence of the worms, Jolly Thomas, executive engineer of the quality control wing, said that the worms were found nearly 200 metres away from the intake point of the plant. She said that the worms were located opposite the treatment well. Ms. Thomas said that there was no reason to panic, as the water quality was found safe.
Environmentalists have alleged that indiscriminate sand mining combined with unchecked dumping of solid waste in to the river seem to have resulted in the presence of worms in such huge quantities. S. Sitaraman, secretary of the Association for Environment Protection at Aluva, alleged that huge quantities of silt had piled up in the river thanks to the indiscriminate and illegal sand mining in the area, he said.
Pointing out that the biological oxygen demand level had gone up in the river considerably, Prof. Sitaraman said that huge quantities of slaughter waste from the municipality and panchayat regions in Aluva were dumped in to the river regularly. He said that the ecology of the river had changed considerably following the indiscriminate human interference on the biodiversity of the region.
Source :The Hindu, 4-9-2010
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