Southern States - Kerala   

PCB suppressing facts on Cola plant: VS

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Oct. 25. The Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan, today accused the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) of withholding vital information on hazardous levels of cadmium, a known carcinogen, detected in the water samples collected from the wells close to the Coca-Cola bottling plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district.

At a press conference here today, Mr. Achuthanandan released the details of a report of the Central Laboratory of the KSPCB, which stated that cadmium concentrations in the drinking water in two wells at Plachimada were at or above the threshold level of 0.01 mg per litre. While a panchayat well, being used by scores of families, tested 0.02 mg per litre of cadmium, another well, owned by Manikyam Chettiar, was found to be having 0.01 mg per litre of this heavy metal.

According to the `Standards and Guidelines on Environment, Effluent, Emission and Noise', published by the KSPCB itself, the danger limit for cadmium concentration in drinking water was 0.01 mg per litre, Mr. Achuthanandan said. However, the KSPCB secretary, K.V. Indulal, had issued a press note on September 29 stating that the well water in the area was not contaminated with heavy metals, he said.

"The Government should clarify whether this manipulation of the laboratory report was done according to its wishes. The KSPCB is also withholding another report of its Central Laboratory bringing out hazardous levels of cadmium in the sludge generated by the Pepsi bottling plant at Kanjikode in Palakkad district," Mr. Achuthanandan said, disclosing the details of that report also.

Against a threshold limit of 50 mg per kg of cadmium, one of the six sludge samples collected from the premises of the Pepsi bottling plant contained 109.5 mg per kg of this heavy metal, he said.

Mr. Achuthanandan said that the readings showing the total hardness of water too was much above the admissible limit in all the seven wells at Plachimada, from which samples were collected and tested at the Central Laboratory. "There is sufficient evidence that over-exploitation of the groundwater resources of Plachimada had rendered the water in the wells of the area unfit for drinking," he said.

Mr. Achuthanandan, quoting a report sent to the Government by the Kerala Ground Water Department, said that three of the 18 wells monitored by the department over the past more than one year had dried up. The water level in nine other wells was found to have come down drastically, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• AICC's show-cause notice to four Ministers likely
• Kerala told to make use of space technology
• Rehabilitation at Marad complete
• Entrepreneurs to benefit from free software
• Battle lines drawn for Thiruvalla by-poll
• PCB suppressing facts on Cola plant: VS
• LDF will spell out conditions for support: VS
• IUML to go by Cong. high command decision
• IFDP to join the fray?
• Marine police by April
• No talks held on UDF candidate: Murali
• Legislature Secretary refutes reports
• Bribery charge: doctor gheraoed

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu