Rivers of death In Sri Lanka

Rivers of death By Sara Muiz(Dailymirror)

Despite several incidents, the country’s rivers continue to be polluted

The bionetwork of the Kelani River is debatable due to the extensive pollution taking place in its watershed under the present context. In addition, the recent pandemonium following the oil leak in Kelani River, left authorities incurring heavy losses and caused inconvenience to the public. However, in a broader perspective, the pollution of the Kelani River is only an isolated incident since many rivers and wetlands in Sri Lanka are more or less facing the same plight with industrial discharge, domestic waste and agro-chemicals being released in addition to the sand mining. These activities had caused heavy damage including erosion and degradation of the wetland eco-system.

Highly degraded – Environmental Foundation Limited
Taking into account a few cases such as Kelani River, Maha Oya and Deduru Oya, the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) said that the status quo of Sri Lankan rivers had been under the stress of pollution and indiscriminate harvesting of river related natural resources, since the late 1970s.

The two principal causes of river related environmental degradation are fresh water pollution through industrial, agricultural and domestic sources and harvesting river related natural resources as pointed out to by the EFL.

EFL said that many, among the 103 rivers in the country, are polluted due to severe industrial pollution: a resultant of industries being established in riverine area.

Apart from the Biyagama Export Processing Zone, there are more than seventy industries that operate along the watershed of the Kelani River, EFL stated.

It stressed that the recent incident that took place in Kelani River was only one among the numerous incidents that could take place in future unless proper laws are enforced.

“National Environmental Act has stipulated standards for discharging waste water from industries, which requires it to be diluted eight times and meet effluent discharge standards before it is discharged to a fresh water body.

“This statement, in other way promotes water pollution, through encouraging industries to discharge wastewater in to fresh water bodies. Albeit being diluted and meeting effluent discharging standards, the total pollution load will remain the same.

“No regulation is enforced to control the fresh water pollution by non-point sources including agricultural sources and domestic discharges.

“Maha Oya, which starts from Aranayake and meets the Indian Ocean in Kochchikade is also subject to industrial discharges in Mawathagama and the Badalgama areas. One of the most detrimental cases is one coir products company in Kobeigane discharging Calcium Nitrate in to Deduru Oya in Kobeigane,” EFL said.

“River sand mining, sand and clay mining in the adjacent lands including river banks, gem mining will be another critical issue which depreciates the health of the riverine eco-systems and ultimately the coastal environments.

“Exacerbated river sand mining results in deepening of river bed and water table, change of river morphology, river bank erosion, degradation of associated ecosystems and impacts on biodiversity.

“Moreover, river sand mining is one of the principal reasons of coastal erosion. Deduru Oya, Maha Oya and Nilwala River are highly degraded due to exacerbated river sand mining. Clay and gem mining results in severe land degradation in the neighbourhood as a result of using these lands for clay and gem mining” EFL added.

“The EFL alleged that a significant environmental impact is caused to the quality of water bodies, which provide important ecosystem services to the community. Most of the water bodies have been disrupted due to the waste emission from industries with their final point of discharge as rivers.

“While stating that the legal procedure for the issuance of the EPL and approvals for EIAs, requires the industries/project to adhere to various legal standards, the EFL noted that nobody monitors these industries, unless a complaint is made or until the licence/approval is produced for renewal one year, three years or the prescribed period after it was first issued.

Industrial waste should be treated – Ravindra Kariyawasam

Environmentalist and Researcher at the Centre for Environment and Nature Studies Ravindra Kariyawasam also shared similar sentiments claiming that river pollution is a major by-product of industrial waste released to the 103 rivers scattered countrywide.
In addition he said that lakes that were linked according to the cascade system were facing similar threats.

“The Central Province is going through a phase of slow destruction with rapid deforestation. Consequent to this, Maguru Oya has dried up to a great extent,” he said.

“World’s water resources are limited relative to human demand, causing what the United Nations and others have defined as a global water crisis. According to a UNESCO study, two million tons of wastewater is dumped into the world’s rivers and lakes every day,” he said.

“Severe overuse and clearance of ecologically important forests, intensive agriculture, expanding urban infrastructures and increasing tourism are having an enormous impact on the natural water balance and existing water resources. More than half of the world’s major rivers are polluted or are running dry. Things are not better for many lakes and wetlands.

“As in the case of Sri Lanka, domestic and industrial waste collected by Pugoda, Malabe, Kelaniya, Kotte and other municipal councils are directly dumped into the river or to a garbage site near the river.

“Orugodawatte is one such example of a garbage dump that feeds toxic matter into the Kelani River. In addition, deforestation has resulted in stalling the function of the natural water filtering system while polluting a vast number of rivers including Mahaweli River. Apart from the faultiness of natural water filtering systems, chemical fertilisers and urea used for tea estates have intermingled with the soil and found its way into watershed thus contaminating many streams and rivers.

“The situation is worsened more with the tourism industry indicating a keen interest in establishing hotel sites close to rivers; in an attempt to capture the surrounding scenery. These hotels very often discharge their waste water and dump the garbage into rivers. As such, Deduru Oya, Ma Oya, Dandugam Oya, Mahaweli River and Kelani River are some of the most polluted rivers due to the effluence released as industrial waste and agro chemicals into rivers without being treated,” Kariyawasam said.

“As in the case of Mahaweli, Deduru Oya and Ma Oya, these rivers have undergone heavy damage consequent to extensive sand mining and deforestation. This has resulted in the destruction of river bank reservations in the riverine while damaging its’ ecology beyond repair. The micro species that contribute in maintaining the natural filtering system are also endangered as a result of this. Their existence is vital to maintain the quality of water, the electric conductivity, the Biological Oxygen Demand and the Carbon Oxygen Demand in watersheds. Their existence is equally important for the regeneration of fish species although there is a significant reduction in endemic species such as Bulath Hapaya, Dankola Pethiya, Iri Handaya and Bandula Pethiya in Kalu Ganga due to the lack of regeneration,” he said.

Conservation is must – Environmentalist Sajeewa Chamikara

The Director of the Environmental Conservation Trust Sajeewa Chamikara said that the release of factory effluence and agro-chemicals at large scale could be cited as two contributory factors that had given rise to river pollution countrywide. He said that Mahaweli was the most polluted river in Sri Lanka due to the extensive release of agro-chemicals into the water.

“Agro-chemicals have not confined themselves to the pollution of only Mahaweli River but had contaminated Kirindi Oya as well. However, in the case of Kelani River, it is polluted with agro chemicals only to a certain length. Kelani River’s major source of water pollution is through industrial waste that commences from Avissawella and continues to flow downwards until it reaches the estuary in Mutwal. The industrial waste that has infested Kelani River consists of both organic and inorganic matter” Chamikara added.

Adding that there were more polluted rivers to the list, Chamikara said that Deduru Oya was another river that was extensively tainted due to the release of toxic waste from industries and alleged that a private company specialised in exporting coir dust must be held directly accountable for releasing their chemical waste into the river.

According to Chamikara, the company prepared the choir dust for export using Calcium Nitrate.

“Calcium Nitrate is used in treating coir dust in order to remove sodium and potassium levels contained in them. In doing so the remnants or waste water is released to the river without being purified and this had led towards the gradual pollution of Deduru Oya,” he said.

Meanwhile, it has been evident that factories manufacturing metals such as iron, copper and aluminium have polluted the water along the Dandugam Oya which flows towards the Negombo lagoon.

“Many factories operate along the Dandugam Oya. Apart from the factories manufacturing metals, there are several washing plants along the riverbanks. These factories dye and wash cloth materials and the waste water is released to the river without going through a purification process.

“Today the Dandugam Oya is recognised as an extremely polluted river. The case of the Kalu Ganga is none the less worse since it is contaminated with agro chemicals at the beginning and as the river flows downwards passing Ingiriya and Horana, it has got heavily tainted with factory waste from chemical treating plants established in close proximity to the river,” he said.

He added that chemical treatment was more evident in the rubber industry. Chamikara alleged that factories release sulphuric acid both into Kelani River and Kalu Ganga after treating rubber. Worsening the situation, he highlighted that the domestic waste at large scale, especially toilet waste of houses in the vicinity have been directed to Kelani River. This is conspicuous in lodgings that are offered on rent along the river side.

“While organic waste as such has extensively found its way into Kelani River this also could lead to many stomach related diseases caused by the presence of bacteria such as Salmonella in water used for daily consumption. He noted that the river is currently polluted with a multitude of similar bacteria that could cause ill health to the public.

Sri Lanka consists of a rich biodiversity in terms of aquatic species, flora and fauna although they face a constant threat under the present context. Chamikara said that Sri Lanka recorded 90 species of fresh water fish and 53 among them were identified as endemic.
“The rivers are also home to 29 species of shrimp and many aquatic plants. In addition these riverine are the main habitat for 112 amphibian species among which 98 are recorded as endemic to the native land.

“As a country that boasts of a rich biodiversity, it is our duty to conserve these habitats. However, it is sad to note that we as a country do not have sufficient legal provisions or Acts to move forward or do the needful as required to conserve nature. The legal provisions available on the subjects are very often limited to the National Environment Act and the Irrigation Ordinance. We need an Act that would encompass all areas related to water bodies and help in their conservation. It must also be noted that protecting the wetland water bodies are a prerequisite to maintain the quality of the ground water level.

“Though we have a National Wetland Policy, it needs to be updated with a deep focus on the conservation of tanks, rivers and marshy lands. Apart from the National Wetland Policy, a dire need is felt for a Wetland Conservation Act as a means of protecting wetlands from being exposed to pollution. Unless Sri Lanka is facilitated with these requirements, one cannot guarantee the proper conservation and maintenance of the high aquatic biodiversity we are gifted with.” Chamikara added.