Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) along with the villagers of Dudhli valley and members of other voluntary bodies jointly collected the water samples of Bindal,Rispana and Suswa rivers in the Dehradun area on Sunday. SPECS secretary Dr Brij Mohan Sharma said that the society will analyse these samples in its laboratory . SPECS initiated a campaign Save Suswa River with the active collaboration of villagers of Dudhli, members of Joy and Behbood Society. Around 40 young volunteers were divided in to groups. They took samples of water from the Suswa river. After collection, the samples were immediately transported to SPECS laboratory. The volunteers observed that the river has become a place for dumping domestic waste. The river was stinking strongly and was also full of garbage whereas some years ago, the water of this river was used for drinking, bathing and irrigation. The Dudhli valley was famous for rice and other agricultural produce.
A journalist and resident of the valley, Shankar Bhatia, said that the aroma of rice is now a memory of the past. This river is not only polluting the area it is also spreading dangerous diseases among the villagers, domestic animals, soil and aquifers. SPECS secretary Sharma, who is also convenor of the campaign said that this river is the life line of Rajaji National Park and now it also contributes a lot of diseases to the forest, plant wealth, wild animals and birds.This is causing a major problem for conservation of the rich biodiversity of the region.
Expressing concern at the deteriorated condition of the Suswa river, the young volunteers of the three bodies pledged to undertake combined efforts for saving the river. Saumya Rauthan, Jai Sharma, Ankit Juneja,Saachi Matta, Anshika Dobhal,Viddhant Bhatia,Siddhant Bhatia,Prashant Sharma,Sadhvi Sondhi, Yuvraj Singh Rawat, Swaraj Singh Rawat, Sherry Arora, Rashmi Mehta, Diksha Rawat and other volunteers were among those who participated in the activity, informed the SPECS secretary.