KOCHI : Kerala Nadi Samrakshana Samithi has urged the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) to implement the directives of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) on Hazardous Wastes.

The samithi alleged that the board had not initiated any action despite receiving an environmental audit report prepared by the Local Area Environment Committee (LAEC) in October. Samithi president P.S. Gopinathan Nair said in a communication that the board should immediately implement the SCMC directive to give piped water connection to people in five wards of Eloor. The directive had been given following contamination of water sources in the area due to industrial pollution.

The authorities should also take steps to clean Kuzhikandam creek at Eloor. A scheme for rehabilitation has to be initiated to save the creek. The board should establish a check post to stop illegal transport of chemical effluents from industrial units in Kochi. The board should also collect funds from industrial units at Eloor and Edayar for polluting the Periyar River. The SCMC had imposed Rs.2.5 crores collective fine on units for dumping effluents into the river. The board should introduce a monitoring mechanism to check air pollution in Kochi.

The samithi had appreciated the efforts taken by Land Revenue Commissioner Alphons Kannanthanam to check filling of rice fields in Ernakulam district. It also protested against the failure of the district administration in checking indiscriminate filling up of rice fields in and around Kakanad. The samithi said that filling of rice fields for real estate activities would affect the ecology of the region.

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