With reports of blue green algae being found in rivers Iruvazhinji and Chaliyar making the rounds, people living on the banks of the rivers have stopped using the water for various purposes. Ente Swantham Iruvazhinji, a collective comprising local environmental activists, is on a mission to remove the fear from the mind of the public and bring them closer to the river once again.
“The presence of algae is not new. It was seen last summer also. But this time, the news spread like wildfire and people are staying away from the river out of fear,” said K.T. Abdul Nassar, founder of Green Care Mission, an environmental organisation in Koolimad, also part of the collective.
The Ente Swantham Iruvazhinji collective has been organising various programmes to bring the public closer to the river over the last few years.
In 2016 and 2017, the collective organised boat rides through the river, several awareness programmes against dumping of waste in the river, and honoured people who made a living from the river. On Sunday they organised community baths in several parts of the river where the algae was not present, with an aim to encourage people to take bath in the river.
Mr. Nassar said people not using the river was a major reason for its pollution. “If they regularly take baths or wash clothes in the river, they will protect it from pollution. At least they will not dump waste into the river,” he said.
The Iruvazhinji river that originates at Kodencheri and runs till Koolimad has been the lifeline of people in five panchayats in the past. The people need to embrace it again.
The Centre for Water Resources Development and Management report that the algae was not so dangerous might help, he added.
