Nothing abnormal in water samples from Rabindra Sarovar, says PCB report

Kolkata: The analysis of water samples collected from Rabindra Sarovar soon after Chhath Puja has ruled out the presence of any major pollutant in the waterbody. The West Bengal Pollution Control Board had collected samples from the waterbody at two locations on November 3, for examining the water quality.

Environmentalists had cried foul that the Puja rituals performed on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning had polluted the water.

"The BOD (biochemical oxygen demand), the PH level, the total coliform and fecal coliform level and some other parameters are nothing abnormal that can prove that water quality has suffered due to Chhath Puja activities performed at Rabindra Sarovar," a senior official of WBPCB said.

The water samples were collected from two points near Buddha Mandir Gate (Golpark side) and BRC gate (Lake Gardens side).

The Board has already submitted the report of the water quality to Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), the custodian of the Sarovar. A turtle carcass and four dead fishes were found on a side of the sprawling waterbody on November 4 and a section of environmentalists had attributed the deaths to bad water quality.

KMDA and Kolkata Municipal Corporation had taken up a cleaning drive immediately after the Puja and flowers, garlands, leaves and plastic dumped in the water by the devotees were removed on a war footing.

The National Green Tribunal had imposed restrictions on the observance of Chhath Puja in Rabindra Sarovar in a bid to curb pollution and KMDA had kept all gates closed for the same. But hundreds of devotees broke the gates and went in to perform Puja in the waterbody.