News
Attidiya canal ran red due to dumped kukul sayam
View(s):- No hazardous elements, says CEA
By Tharushi Weerasinghe
Heavy metals were not found in the pollutants that made the canal and water bodies in the Dehiwela-Attidiya area run red this week.
Residents in the area noticed that the water in the canal completely changed colour on Tuesday morning. “We followed the trail the next day because the water was still red the next day and came across a garbage heap near a house that had red dye all over it,” a resident from the area said.
Red water in the canal
In a statement issued on Wednesday (6), the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) announced that an on-site inspection by CEA officials and other experts concluded that a water-soluble artificial dye caused the canal water to discolour.
The Central Environment Authority, which is running tests on the dye colouring the water, told the Sunday Times that preliminary tests revealed that the chemicals did not breach parameters such as PH levels and temperature. “We are awaiting further lab results, but nothing is in breach of its hazardous limits so far, which means the colourant is not harmful to humans or animals,” CEA Director General Hemantha Jayasinghe told the Sunday Times on Friday.
He also noted that there has been no reports of any fish deaths or ecosystem activity out of the ordinary. He added that the CEA had expected the colour to dissolve and settle as the rivers flowed. However, the Sunday Times found that clumps of red remained in the water even on Friday – three days after the dye was originally observed. “We are also surprised the colour remains and have asked the Disaster Risk Management Centre to do something to stop the flow of the colour, but we reiterate that there is no harm detected at the moment,” Mr. Jayasinghe said.
Regardless of the absence of harm for the moment, releasing chemicals into the environment is a punishable offence. Still, the jurisdiction for this does not lay with the CEA, he explained, as the National Environment Act usually deals with industrial activity. “Since this was a household action, it falls within the jurisdiction of public health regulations.”
The Dehiwala Public Health Inspector (PHI) filed a complaint with the Dehiwala Police Station about the incident. “A resident in the area had purchased “kukul sayam” from a store nearby and disposed of it irresponsibly; this person has been arrested and was presented in the magistrate’s court today,” noted the Public Health Inspector for the area Wasantha Pushpakumara on Friday.
“The fact that nothing harmful was detected is good for the community and those concerned about it,” said a representative for the Biodiversity Project, who reported the incident to the authorities. The representative said that dyes can be made of natural or synthetic materials; however, here, it seems to be synthetic because of how long it has lasted. Synthetic dyes, which may seem unproblematic when exposed to skin, may have bad impacts when ingested in large quantities. “Given how long the lake has been red, the quantities of birds and fish that have been ingesting it over the last week could develop issues in the long run,” the representative explained.
Another concern was the authorities’ seeming inaction in containing the spill and its flow into other waterways. “We don’t know how long this will go on for, and no boons or barricades have been set up to avoid further damage,” the representative observed.
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