South Pennar river froths as in Bengaluru lakes

Krishnagiri: After Bellandur and Varthur lakes in Bengaluru of neighbouring Karnataka, the south Pennar river of Krishnagiri district was covered with toxic foam. On Friday, local people saw Kelavarapalli dam covered with a white foam like substance that gradually rose to above 10 feet high in some places along with the increase in the discharge level of the dam that reached over 4.000 cusec.

While people panicked, officials explained that this was because of  toxic discharge into the river by neighboring Karnataka. "It is new for us but common for people living in places surrounding Bellandur and Varthur lakes in Karnataka, from where  south Pennar brings water to Tamil Nadu," said an official in the Tamil Nadu pollution control board (TNPCB) of Hosur in Krishnagiri.

The TNPCB official admitted that tested water samples taken from the Hosur Kelavarapalli dam, showed alarming levels of total dissolved solids.

"Karnataka allows industries to discharge untreated toxic waste into the river," TNPCB officials said.