Explore alternative technologies to rejuvenate polluted canals: NGT tells Kerala government
The Hindu
The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal has directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Environment Department, to coordinate with the other departments and submit a timeline on providing administrative and financial sanction for the projects
The National Green Tribunal has asked the State government to implement temporary measures like the “Phytorid Wastewater Treatment Technology” developed by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to rejuvenate the polluted waterbodies, including the Perandoor and Edappally canals here.
The recommendation was given by the Southern Bench comprising of Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, and Dr. Satyagopal Korlapati, expert member while considering the suo motu case related to the indiscriminate faecal contamination in Perandoor and Edappally canals. The court had taken suo motu notice of the report titled “Faecal contamination high in Perandoor, Edappally Canals” published in The Hindu on January 28, 2021.
The Bench has stated that the projects to rejuvenate the canals cannot be kept pending forever. It directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Environment Department to coordinate with the other departments and submit a timeline on providing administrative and financial sanction for the projects. The technology developed by the NEERI can be implemented till the completion of works, which will result in a permanent solution, according to the tribunal.
The technology involves a constructed wetland exclusively designed for the treatment of municipal, urban, agricultural and industrial wastewater. The system uses certain specific plants that can absorb nutrients directly from wastewater, but do not require soil. These plants act as nutrient sinker and remover.
The Bench had pulled up the authorities in January stating that no concrete steps have been taken to check the illegal discharge of untreated wastewater into canals and the action that have been so far taken by the respective authorities are going only at a snail’s pace.