A legal recourse and public mobilization is the next step to fight pollution in Bhavani river, the only source of drinking water to residents of Mettupalayam and Tirupur, said Save Bhavani Trust activists.

The Trust holds two check dams built over the river for power generation responsible for raising pollution to dangerous levels.

They assert the dams built by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) at Vellipalayam road and Samayapuram were producing just three mega watts of power each, but have blocked water flow and effectively stopped discharge of hospital waste, effluent from industries and municipality’s sewage water that enters the river from 48 locations.

“The waste is collecting in the stagnant river and making matters worse,” said Prof M Jaikumar, a Mettupalayam resident who works as head of department, Computer Applications, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science.

“Our demand is to open the outlet and let the water flow,” said M Su Mani, secretary, Save Bhavani Trust.
TANGEDCO maintains that power generation does not contribute to pollution, and suggests the municipality builds a sewage treatment plant to solve the problem.

Mani said the dams were built without obtaining any NOC from authorities. “It’s not at all a suitable location for hydroelectric power generation.”

He said waste such as animal carcass and at least one or two dead bodies wash up on the river banks.

“After the dams were built the pollution levels have shot up and there is an overuse of water treatment technology and chemicals like chlorine,” says Mani.

A senior official of Mettupalayam Government Hospital confirmed that the number of cases that come from hamlets around Mettupalayam suffer from water-borne diseases.

Not one year passes without us treating about 300 to 350 patients for diarrhoeal diseases, he said.

“Enlisting public support is an important part of our fight to save the river,” said Jaikumar, who is also joint-secretary of the Trust.

“We have met about 1,000 people to raise awareness about this issue and seeking their support.”