Sirmaur administration to clean Markandeya river

SOLAN: Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) rated the water quality of Markandeya river in Sirmaur district as critical under the Priority-II category. The district administration has decided to initiate mitigation measures.

It is among the 17 river stretches notified by the CPCB whose biological oxygen demand (BOD) concentration was in the range of 20-30 miligram per litre, several times more than the safe limit.

A meeting of the Markandeya Rejuvenation Committee was convened under the chairmanship of Lalit Jain, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner at Nahan on January 9, 2019. The officials of various departments such as forest, State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Irrigation and Public Health (IPH), mining, police, etc., were directed to undertake measures.

Lalit Jain directed the officials of the Forest Department to undertake sapling plantation along the shores of the river and evict encroachments. He said that a dam should be constructed to make use of the river water for irrigation. He directed the officials to explore the possibility of setting up a biodiversity park in its precincts. The officials of the police and forest departments were directed to take steps to curb illegal mining operations on the riverbed.

The officials of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department have been asked to select land in the Special Area Development Authority of Kala Amb town, for a solid waste management plant, which can cater to Kala Amb and Nahan and ensure scientific disposal of waste.

Jain said that the IPH Department should undertake the issue of setting up a sewage treatment plant after assessing the quantum of waste water. He added that the process of identifying land for setting up a common effluent treatment plant for the Kala Amb industrial area was underway.

Shravan Kumar, Regional Officer, SPCB, informed the officials about the NGT directions on how to improve the water quality for which an action plan has been devised and submitted to the CPCB.