Samithi to hold massive protest in front of KSPCB over pollution of Phalguni River

The Phalguni Nadi Ulisi Horata Samithi will hold a massive protest in front of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board’s Regional Office, protesting unbridled pollution of Phalguni River by industrial and municipal waste in Mangaluru on Friday.

The Phalguni Nadi Ulisi Horata Samithi will hold a massive protest in front of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board’s Regional Office, protesting unbridled pollution of Phalguni River by industrial and municipal waste in Mangaluru on Friday.

A statement from the Samithi here said, the Phalguni (Gurupura) has been the source of drinking water for many villages, backwater fishing, agriculture and the economic vitality of the villages along its banks. Notwithstanding continuous efforts to save the River for the last 15 years, it has been found with evidence many times that large industries were discharging untreated waste into the river through Kudumbur and Thokur rivulets. Similarly, Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has also been discharging untreated domestic sewage into the River.

National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai Bench, took congnisance of the fish kill and pollution appearing in The Hindu and initiated a suo motu case against the authorities. Yet, little progress is made to keep the river clean, the Samithi regretted. While MCC has spent hundreds of crores of rupees taken on loan for underground drainage network, because of poor work and corruption, untreated sewage continues to join the riverine system of Mangaluru.

While Kudumburand Thokur rivulets that had been sources of clean water flowing into Phalguni have become sewage drains due to flow of industrial effluents, the stretch of Phalguni from Maravoor dam downstream to Tannirbhavi has also turned back killing the aquatic life. The groundwater in the vicinity too has become contaminated.

The protest is being organised form 10 a.m. on Friday at KSPCB office, Baikampady Industrial Area, decrying the apathy of the district administration and the Board to ensure the Phalguni remains unpolluted, the Samithi said.