Kabini pollution row: Activists threaten siege of SP office if FIR not filed
The Save Kabini Forum and the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (Collective Leadership), which have launched a campaign against the pollution of the Kabini River by
The Save Kabini Forum and the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (Collective Leadership), which have launched a campaign against the pollution of the Kabini River by the discharge of untreated sewage in H.D. Kote and Saragur, have lodged police complaints against the local MLA and officials concerned. Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Friday, representatives of the Forum and KRRS (Collective Leadership) threatened to lay siege to the office of the Superintendent of Mysuru district police if FIRs were not registered based on their complaints. KRRS (Collective Leadership) leader Manju Kiran said the organisations had already brought to the authorities’ notice the large-scale pollution of the Kabini caused by the discharge of untreated sewage from residential and commercial establishments in H.D. Kote and Saragur.
“We also presented scientific laboratory reports of water samples collected from the river, which established that the water was unfit even for bathing,” he said. On August 12, complaints were filed at the H.D. Kote and Saragur police stations against MLA Anil Chikkamadu, the tahsildars of the two taluks, the CEO of Mysuru Zilla Panchayat, the head of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited, and officials of the local municipal bodies and the Pollution Control Board, he said. Police at both stations received the complaints and informed the complainants that they would summon those responsible, record their statements and then take a decision on registering FIRs. The police sought 14 days to complete the process, Mr. Manju Kiran said. “If the authorities fail to register an FIR despite the complaint being backed by evidence, and instead try to shield those responsible for the pollution, we will lay siege to the SP’s office in Mysuru,” he warned.
Calling access to clean drinking water a constitutional right, Mr. Manju Kiran said it was “illegal and unconstitutional” for officials to allow the river to be polluted and demanded that FIRs be registered against those responsible. Advocate Ravi Kumar, who also represents the Forum, said officials and elected representatives had failed to discharge their responsibility of ensuring the establishment of a sewage treatment plant. “How can they allow untreated sewage to flow into the river and contaminate it?” he asked. Meanwhile, Mysuru Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, acting on the complaints, has already constituted a four-member committee headed by Zilla Panchayat Deputy Secretary Bheemappa Laali to investigate the charges of discharge of untreated liquid waste and dumping of solid waste into the river.
The committee was directed on August 5 to submit an action-taken report within 15 days after conducting spot inspections of the Kabini backwaters, verifying the allegations, identifying sources of pollution and fixing responsibility on the departments concerned. The committee has also been asked to collect details of resorts, homestays, hotels and other tourism establishments around the backwaters to check their compliance with waste-management norms, and ascertain whether untreated sewage or solid waste is being illegally discharged or dumped into the backwaters and surrounding areas.
The BriefWire