| 4 lakes under bacterial attack |
Bacterial contamination poses a serious threat to the water quality in four major lakes in the State, a study conducted by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), Kozhikode, has found. Presenting the findings of the study at the Kerala Environment Congress 2009 held at Trivandrum last month, scientist P.S. Harikumar said the Pookot lake in Wayanad, Vembanad lake in Alappuzha, Sasthamkotta lake in Kollam and Vellayani lake in Thiruvananthapuram were polluted with bacteria from various sources.
The Pookot lake, a freshwater reservoir, showed the presence of coliform bacteria in 36 per cent of samples taken for the study, while e-coli were present in 65 per cent of the samples. Harikumar?s paper noted that the Vembanad lake and the backwater system were heavily polluted with industrial effluents and urban waste, causing eutrophication (increase in the quantity of chemical nutrients) of the waters. The lake is infested with phytoplankton and polluted with agricultural and municipal effluents, the study observes. The Sasthamkotta and Vellayani lakes, both important sources of drinking water, are threatened by urbanization, reclamation and silting, besides bacteriological contamination, it notes.
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