Maravoor residents continue to face brunt of Phalguni river pollution

Residents of Maravoor village continue to be affected due to the pollution of the Phalguni and they all living on the downstream of Maravoor vented dam, which was constructed across the Phalguni in 2017

For the last several days, 60-year-old Leena Lobo, a resident of Maravoor village, has been experiencing severe itching on her hands and legs as she uses water from a well which is on the banks of the Phalguni.

“Because of chemical content in the water, I have been enduring this problem. The problem was acute to start with. Now itching is a bit bearable following medication,” Ms. Lobo said, while showing yellow rough patches on the lower portion of her two legs to a group of visiting presspersons on Tuesday.

Ms. Lobo is among the residents of Maravoor village that continues to be affected due to the pollution of the Phalguni. They are all living on the downstream of Maravoor vented dam, which was constructed across the Phalguni in 2017.

Ms. Lobo has been living in the area for the last four decades.

The team of reporters who visited the vented dam found the colour of water on the downstream of the dam turning black. A foul smell emanated from the water that had traces of oil too.

Stella D’Souza, another old resident of the area, said it’s only in the last few days that the smell has increased. “We strongly suspect that it is due to untreated effluents joining the river. We cannot make use of the water. We are forced to rely on the piped water supply that comes only for an hour in a day,” she said.

Homemaker Clavy D’Souza said that because of a drop in the dissolved oxygen level in the water, fish have been dying along the downstream. “Unlike the past, we are unable to catch fish and shellfish as the riverbed has become deep due to sand extraction,” she said.