Black water, part of monsoon blues

Thiruvananthapuram: For the past several years, residents of Vattiyoorkavu panchayat have lived in fear of the approaching monsoon. That is the time of the year when their water sources turn black with the increased leachate runoff from the City Corporations garbage plant at Vilappilsala.

Due to this, the Kerala Water Authority shuts the pump house feeding water from the Meenampally canal, an upstream tributary of the Karamana River, to the distribution network. Most of the wells are also heavily polluted due to the mixture of rainwater and leachate.

This year is no different. The heavy pre-monsoon showers brought misery to hundreds of families, as the leachate flow polluted the river water and wells.

�It is difficult to control the leachate flow during the rainy season, says Babu Ambatt, executive director of the Centre for Environment Development (CED), the agency that manages the garbage plant along with the Corporation.