A task force will be constituted soon with environmental experts and political party representatives as members for the conservation of the river Periyar.
The task force will coordinate with various stakeholders including state government, for impl-ementing proposals sugge-sted for river protection.
Green activists and exp-erts including Dr V.S Vij-ayan, Prof M.K Prasad, Dr Latha, Dr C.M. Joy, Dr Chandramohan Kumar, Prof Seetharaman, Bishop Geevarghese mar Cooril-os, C. Jayakumar, C.R. Neelakandhan and Puru-shan Eloor will be task force members.
The initiative for constituting the task force has been taken by the Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithi (PMVS).
“We have asked the major political parties to nominate their representatives to the force. Once we get their names, the task force will be officially formed,” said Purushan Eloor, PMVS activist.
The task force will oversee the implementation of various proposals recommended for conserving the Periyar.
“Over the past few years, after studying the indiscriminate pollution of the Peri-yar, several agencies and individuals have recommended various proposals for protecting the river. However, none of them have been implemented effectively.
The new task force will consult with state government and pre-ssurise it for timely implementation of the various proposals for river conservation,” Purushan said.
Meanwhile, Dr C.M. Joy presented a 15 point agenda for river conservation during a recently held technical session conducted as part of the ‘Periyar Raksha Sangamam’ on the challenges faced by the Periyar and its solutions.
He recommended that a moratorium be imposed on sand mining from the Periyar and local bodies along its banks should be properly equipped with solid waste treatment systems.