Level of toxins high in Noyyal river: What do the reports say?

Coimbatore: The city of Coimbatore has rich and vast mountains, green water bodies and rivers. Next to Cauvery is the Noyyal River, a river that many Chola kings marveled at. For the last 700 years, our ancestors have been strengthening the riverside ponds with stones and soil. Therefore, more than thousands of kinds of plants, butterflies, aquatic birds and reptiles inhabited the water bodies.

It can be said that the recent rains are a testament to the fact that people's tax money is being wasted on rivers and ponds in the name of reconstruction and the Smart City projects. Also several mishaps are being done in the Noyyal river.

Bharathiar University recently conducted a study on minerals in the Noyyal River. It has been found that the river water has more heavy metals and chemicals than the permitted levels. The research was carried out by a team comprising Professor of Zoology D. Murali Shankar, Department of Environmental Sciences Professor Muniyasamy, Research Student Gayathri, Department of Marine Sciences from Coimbatore Bharathiar University and Professors R. Rajaram and P. Santhanam of Bharathidasan University on Noyyal River water samples, crabs and plants in it.

At the end of this study, they found that there were more heavy metals, chemicals and minerals than the permitted levels. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, a liter of water should contain 0.5 milligrams of zinc, but Noyyal river water contains 2.75 milligrams. The level of mercury is 10.74 mg as opposed to 0.05 mg. In addition, according to the Indian Standards Institution BIS, instead of 250 mg of chloride, 1,010 mg is present, instead of 45 mg nitrate there is 250 mg and instead of 200 mg hard water level, it is 1075 mg.

The crabs were taken for testing and examined to find as to what kind of damage the high metal content of the river might have caused to the organisms living in it. According to the FAO standard, zinc, which should be 30 mg per 1 kg, is 51.72. The cadmium that should be 0.05 is 0.22 mg. They also have a metallicity of 19.91 mg, which must be under 0.5 mg in intensive analysis. The main reason for this is the pollution of the water with dye and industrial waste.

These studies were taken at three climatic intervals because according to researchers this method will give clear results. Noyyal is clean and drinkable from its source to the first check dam on its course. Bleaching factories abound in areas such as Selvapuram, Puttuvikki, and the Sunnambu Kalavai Dam, which dump most of the waste into the Noyyal River. The hard metals in it are washed away by the river water. Immediate detection and action should be taken against those who discharge waste into the river. It is paramount to protect nature when the society as a whole is still struggling to recoup from the COVID-19 pandemic.