Vrushabhavathi (right) merges with the Arkavathi River (left) near Ganalu village in Kanakapura taluk of Bengaluru South district.
The exercise will bring together 13 premier engineering institutions, govt agencies, technical experts, NGOs, schools, colleges, volunteers and local communities to identify pollution sources and develop a remediation plan. Cauvery Neeravari Nigam (CNNL), under water resources department, is facilitating an integrated pollution assessment and abatement initiative. The latest measure follows repeated reprimands from Karnataka high court and National Green Tribunal over rampant river pollution.
All 13 engineering colleges have been assigned individual catchments to investigate pollution sources, examine the characteristics of industrial effluents, assess water quality and recommend technically feasible remedial measures. K Jayaprakash, retired secretary and technical adviser to CM DK Shivakumar, is overseeing the initiative along with a 16-member team of experts. He told TOI the objective is to move beyond piecemeal interventions and establish a scientific understanding of pollution across Arkavathi basin, which spans more than 4,000 sqkm and includes tributaries Kumudavathi, Vrishabhavathi and Suvarnamukhi rivers. The six-month assessment will combine geospatial mapping, scientific water sampling at around 150 locations to determine the nature and extent of contamination. The first technical workshop was held in Bengaluru last week, focusing on standardising assessment methodologies, improving coordination among institutions and consolidating findings from all 13 catchments into a comprehensive industrial pollution abatement plan.
“The exercise also involves farmers, citizens living along the river and local communities, who will contribute their knowledge of the river’s condition and pollution levels and participate in developing sustainable pollution-control measures,” said Vikrant Patil of NakshaTech. CNNL has collaborated with city-based NakshaTech for technical assessment of field-level data. An AI-based dashboard is envisaged to support data analysis, monitoring and decision-making.