The rivers in the southern Western Ghats play an important role on sustaining the richness and diversity of the biotic environment in the mountainous catchments. However, human interventions in the last 4-5 decades have imposed immense stress on this ecologically sensitive system. The environmental problems are worse in the downstream reaches of the rivers that host the major industrial and urban centres. In a recent study, the scientists of Hydrology Group revealed that lockdown during COVID pandemic was an eye-opener to the extent of river pollution and also point to the imminent need for long-term plans to recoup the natural cleansing ability of the river systems. The results of the water quality study in the industrialised and urbanised regions of the Periyar river revealed that over 90 % of the river water samples, which were examined during the lockdown period, showed excellent-good water quality, but the figure declined below 50 % during post lock down period due to excessive flux of pollutants from industrial and urban centres. The results of the study underscore the urgent need for establishing high-performance Sewage Systems Treatment (STPs) to pre-treat waste waters to acceptable levels before discharging in to the riverine environments.

Bibliographic Info: Aditya, S. K., Krishnakumar, A., Anoop Krishnan, K. (2023). Influence of COVID-19 lockdown on river water quality and assessment of environmental health in an industrialized belt of southern Western Ghats, India. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 30 (28), pp. 72284-72307.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27397-0.

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