Untreated sewage flows in most of our rivers.
A popular Kannada adage says that drinking water from the Tunga is equal to taking a bath in the Ganga.
However, the condition of the Tunga would make one balk at the idea of drinking its water, with untreated sewage from the Shivamogga City Corporation limits being discharged into it.
While this is one of the starkest cases of pollution and official apathy, many rivers in Karnataka are polluted by untreated urban sewage.
In Hassan district, for instance, among the eight urban local bodies, five have installed plants to treat sewage.
The continuous monitoring of major rivers in Karnataka indicates that domestic sewage continues to be the single largest source of pollution, and if left untreated could choke the river flow.
Water samples drawn from a few rivers, including the Lakshmanatirtha, Cauvery and Arkavati at certain stations, conform to ‘Class E’ as per environmental norms and hence are fit only for irrigation or industrial cooling.
Though quality of water along maximum stretches of the rivers in the State conforms to ‘Class C’ (fit for drinking only after treatment and disinfection), pollution owing to untreated sewage flowing into the rivers is on the rise.
The degradation of river water because of untreated domestic sewage is so high that portions of major rivers in the State have been designated as ‘Polluted river stretches’ by the CPCB, according to the report.
in Hassan.)