Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 17: Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has warned the people not to drink water from 15 rivers. The board deems that water of these rivers is even unfit for taking bath.

The board said that water of big rivers is not fit for bath. The board has grouped these rivers under C and D categories. Category C means that water from these rivers can be drunk after purification. The rivers listed under D category are not for taking bath. Such rivers can only support wildlife and fishing, they stated.

Water of Rivers Kumaradhara and Netravati has been grouped under category B. Their water can be used for taking bath, and quality-wise, water from these rivers is better than others. The officials of the board said that the government should evince interest in protecting the quality of water in these rivers. The officials said that the quality of water in river Netravati was stable from April 2018 to March 2019.

As per the report, quality of water in Rivers Arkavathi and Bhadra are most polluted. Rivers Yagachi, Cauvery, Kabini and Kali have remained under category C since a year.

In case of other rivers, there have been fluctuations in categorization levels. Water of Shimsha river is fit for agriculture. This river has achieved upgradation from Category E to D between October 2018 and November.

The board had undertaken evaluation of rivers Arkavathi, Laxmanateertha, Malaprabha, Tungabhada, Bhadra, Cauvery, Kabini, Kagina, Kali, Krishna, Shimsha, Kumaradhara, Netravati, Tunga and Yagachi. River Bhima was not evaluated.

The board said that water of most of these rivers is brown in colour and such water is not fit for even taking bath.