On the morning of 5 January 2024, the Periyar River, in the southwestern Indian state Kerala, turned black in colour. The discolouration occurred near the Eloor-Edayar industrial region, the “industrial backbone of Kerala”. Eloor-Edayar is a decades-old region, where some of the most polluting and harmful products are created. The Periyar River provides drinking water to the nearby Kochi City and adjoining areas.
Locals are used to the polluting effects on their river, as it had drastically changed colour on more than 15 occasions in 2023. The January 5th discolouration was the first of 2024, and it is suspected that it was caused by the opening of the shutters of the Pathalam bund. The shutters had been closed for nearly three weeks, collecting harmful chemicals and waste materials. Previous discolourations were linked to the opening of the Pathalam bund too.
The first signs of the detrimental pollution of the area were visible in 1971, when after a strong monsoon, thousands of dead fish were left on the banks of the Periyar. People only realised that the fish had died due to pollution when they themselves got ill after eating the fish. In 1990, a canal of the Periyar River caught on fire due to the presence of the highly flammable toluene in the river, a toxic chemical which causes damage to humans’ nervous system and liver. This leak in particular was linked to Hindustan Insecticides Ltd.
Some of the petrochemical plants in the Eloor-Edayar region are state-owned enterprises, including Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore, Indian Rare Earths Ltd, and Hindustan Insecticides Ltd.
The Kerala State Pollution Control Board has failed to address the industrial pollution of the Periyar River. The chief environmental engineer of the Pollution Control Board, Baburajan PK, told Al Jazeera: “only five major companies of the more than 300 industrial plants in the region are allowed to discharge wastewater into the river, and it must be treated. The rest must treat their wastewater, reusing or disposing of it on their own land.”
India’s National Green Tribunal has also involved itself with pollution of the Periyar River. The National Green Tribunal was set up in 2010 and is responsible for treating cases related to environmental protection. It is entitled to act only when letters or communication is addressed to it, citing environmental concerns. Decisions of the National Green Tribunal are binding.
On 21 January 2019, the National Green Tribunal ordered that the Pollution Control Board set up a special Committee “to prepare an action plan for the remediation and in the first phase use the available funds”, whereby the funds are to be covered 60% by the state Government, and 40% by the central Indian Government. Amounts were also to be recovered from polluters. Further, the Tribunal ordered for the restoration of water quality.
More recently, the chairperson of the National Green Tribunal has said that “authorities’ reports in the last several years do not show any improvement in Periyar’s water quality at any of the locations in question”.
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