Summary:
Manoj Viswanathan ByExpress News ServiceKOCHI: The massive contamination of the Vembanad lake due to heavy metals and pesticide has reached alarming levels, posing a major health risk to humans through trophic transfer, it has emerged. Southern stations recorded low dissolved oxygen level while the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) was high. The phosphate, silicate and ammonia content was higher in the southern parts while nitrite and nitrate content was higher in the northern parts. The study indicates that the southern part of the Vembanad backwaters suffers massive contamination from heavy metals. Waste dumping, rusted boats along the canals of Alappuzha and developmental activities are the main reasons for anthropogenic enrichment of heavy metals in the estuary, said Bijoy Nandan..