Holy Vedavyas, where rivers Koel, Shankha and Saraswati get their confluence, gives birth to the mighty Brahmani river. But these days, the river is getting polluted due to the waste water of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and Rourkela Municipality area.
Sources said the population of Rourkela city (both the steel township and the civil township) is over six lakh. The waste water coming from the city is released into the river causing pollution. So far, the Rourkela Municipality has not set up any mechanism to filter the waste water before it gets released into the Brahmani river.
The waste water discharged from the RSP (that contains iron dust, other metal pollutant, oil, grease and chemicals) falls in river through Guradi canal after being filtered in a lagoon at Tarkera. But due to improper maintenance and cleaning of mud, the waste water directly enters to the river. With the warning of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) a year back, about 10,000 cubic meter mud was cleaned from the lagoon. Earlier, the waste water discharged from the Rourkela municipality area was also released into the RSP lagoon but after resistance from the RSP authority, the civic body has been releasing it directly into the river.
From a survey it is learnt that the inlet and outlet PH (potential of hydrogen) at the RSP lagoon point is 7.5 and 6.6 respectively. Since the range limit is between 5.5 and 9.0, the waste water is not harmful. But the PH of the waste water discharged from the municipality area is more than 8.5. It is harmful to the aquatic creatures. Besides, it makes the water unfit for consumption.
Similarly, the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) in river’s upper end and lower end is 1.7 and 7.0. In the lower end, it is much higher than the specify standard. In the waste water discharged from the Rourkela municipality, the BOD is 48 which is higher than normal standard of 30 mg per lire. The COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) in upstream and downstream of the river is 52 and 104, respectively, which are again higher than the normal. The TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome) level in upstream and downstream is 72 and 139 respectively, which also are alarming.
Similarly, the water level for last five years in the river has been falling down drastically due to industrialization and other reasons.This is due to the excess use of water beyond permissible limit by the plants near the banks of the river. As in coming days many new plants are going to be set up, they will again put a great stress on the water of the river and lead to its drying up further.
