‘Mahisagar pollution risk to lives near Vadodara’

VADODARA: Pollution in Mahisagar river is not only affecting the health of the river but also causing a tremendous risk to villages, towns, lives in Vadodara and neighbouring districts.
In fact, toxic froth floating on both the banks of the river has now become a regular feature on new moon and full moon day of every month.
City-based Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) on Monday issued notices to all the concerned authorities seeking immediate action to save the river from irreversible damage.
The confluence of Mahisagar river and the effluent channel project (ECP) at ‘J Point’ in the Gulf of Khambhat is in very close proximity to that of the mouth of the Sabarmati river, which also carries high concentration of sewage and industrial effluents that is dumped into the Gulf.
“We fear that the tidal activities in the Gulf of Khambhat, drive the highly toxic and polluted waters inland at the estuaries of the Mahisagar and Sabarmati rivers. This is risking all the settlements in the region,” said environment activist Rohit Prajapati from PSS.
“It is possible that effluent discharged through Sabarmati into the Gulf may also be finding its way up in the Mahisagar river. The floating chemical foam entering the Mahisagar with the tides is an indication of that,” he said.
PSS believes that continuous discharge of untreated effluents and sewage for more than three decades might have formed toxic sediments in stretches along the Gulf, especially near the mouths of Mahisagar river estuaries.
“This might be getting agitated and flow inwards up the river during high tides,” he said, adding that while the effluent is being discharged within the estuaries, the open sea is miles away from the Gulf.
While urging the authorities to take investigate the matter, PSS in its notice issued to all concerned officials has also stated that inaction by the authorities will be considered as contempt of court of the Supreme Court order passed on February 2017.