River Kaveri: The next Ganga in making?

Team L&M

It seems we don’t learn from our past mistakes. On the contrary, we believe in committing them over and over again. As has been the case with almost all major rivers in the country including River Ganga and River Yamuna, River Kaveri too is now getting polluted. And it is happening at a rapid pace, with the concerned authorities choosing to turn a blind eye to this disaster in waiting.

Recently, the residents of Sri Krishna Gardens, Mylasandra near RR Nagar in SW Bengaluru raised their concern through change.org that ‘they are getting poisoned by toxins being poured into the Vrishbhavati stream, flowing past their locality’.

“Every morning huge quantities of chemical and industrial effluents are being poured into the Vrishbhavati making the river turn yellow and toxic. There is a foul stench along with the yellow chemicals which lingers in the air throughout the day,” they claimed, adding that despite the foul-smelling water turning bright yellow, the authorities are ignoring it. “This polluted water finally finds its way into River Kaveri, the sole source of drinking water for millions in the region,” the residents said.

After Godavari and Krishna, Kaveri is the third largest river in South India and bisects the state of Tamil Nadu into north and south. The people of South India worship the river, one of the seven holy rivers in India, as Goddess Kaveriamma.