Summary:
Kota: Constant flow of polluted water and waste through 28 nullahs into the Chambal river, one of the least non-polluted rivers in the country so far, has pushed environmentalists and activists of the Chambal Bachao Andolan to demand for checking the pollution content of the river. The river supplies drinking water to Kota, Bundi and Bhilwara.Last year, two crocodiles were found dead in Nayapura area along the bank of the Chambal river and a post-mortem revealed plastic and toxic chemicals in their body leading to their death.Chambal Sudhikaran Pariyojna (Chambal Purification Project), one of the Prime Minister’s dream projects, has been continuing for the last four years with only 40% completed so far. He clarified that Kota municipal corporation, Urban Infrastructure Trust (UIT) and Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Project (RUIDP) are responsible to check and control the pollution from city waste and nullahs and added these local bodies are working sewerage water treatment system but admitted ‘the work is standstill’.Sharma added that water pollution in Chambal is monitored at five points and samples are collected on monthly bases to analyze the pollution. The water quality at four points is up to the quality standard however it is disturbing in downstream towards Keshoraipatan area with high quantity of organic waste.Plans worth Rs 122 crore to check pollution into Chambal river were put in place in 2011 and Rs 70 to 80 crore spent but the machinery and infrastructure for the same is still incomplete and the work is halted, said Rajendra Suman, an activist who leads campaign to purification and checking the pollution into Chambal river and has filed petition in this regard at the Rajasthan High Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT). The sole treatment plant in Kishorepura area and two others are yet undergoing construction in Sakatpura and Khedliphatak areas are enough to expose the snail’s pace of the project.About 28 nullahs and hundreds of other minor tributaries from the 13 lakh population of Kota city pour extremely polluted water and waste into the Chambal river mainly in Godawari dham – Adershilla, Shivpura, Sagidhera, Sakatpura, Makabara, Rampura, Shivdasghat and considerably a number of other areas of the city..