CETP at Edayar | Kerala government mulls funding by industrial units

The government has plans to ask the industrial units located on the banks of the Periyar River in Edayar to provide funds for setting up a common effluent treatment plant.

The proposal came up for discussion at the meeting convened by the Chief Secretary on February 8 to discuss the inordinate delay in finalising the draft plan for the rejuvenation of the river.

The government had received flak from the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal after the court pulled up the authorities for not realising the long-pending projects to restore the original condition of the river, hit badly by unchecked discharge of solid waste.

The setting up of a common effluent treatment plant at Edayar has been pending for long. The suggestion evolved based on the inference that many small and medium scale industrial units lacked such a mechanism and it had contributed to the worsening water quality and ecological condition of the river.

The Industries Department had initiated measures to work out whether it could provide the financial support to the project. However, the government has now recommended that the funding should be done by the industrial units as the managements had the responsibility to set up facilities to ensure scientific management of the effluents.

The meeting is learnt to have decided to speed up the process of completing the detailed project report for the common facility. Kerala Water Authority is entrusted with the task of preparing the detailed project report.

Senior officials who attended the meeting pointed out that the ‘polluter-pays-principle’ will be applicable as the industrial units responsible for the untreated discharge of effluents into the waterbody were liable to provide the environmental compensation.

The regional wing of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board will convene a meeting of industrial units in Edayar to place the proposals for checking unauthorised discharge of effluents and to set up infrastructure in tune with the provisions under the Environment and other relevant Acts.