AGARTALA, February 13 (TIWN): A NGO named mission 2018 organized a campaign for democratic awareness on “Save Howrah” at Sakuntala road, here today.

Addressing in the campaign president of the organization Tutan Chakraborty said that though State Government had adopted number of measures to prevent water pollution, but the steps adopted by them does not resulted in fruitful measures. Due to this, the major source of water, Howrah which is considered as the lifeline of Agartala is becoming worse day by day.

He further said that in 2004, the Tripura State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) had conducted a study and observed that more than 1,000 toilets along the Howrah discharged human excreta into the river. The bacterial contamination (coliform) ranged up to 1,800 most probable number per 100 ml, against the standard limit of 500.

More than that TPSCB made a detailed study on “Environmental Impact Assessment” at Bodhjunnagar Industry by National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). While narrating the main reasons of pollution of Howrah River and other bodies Tripura State pollution said that as there are no major industries in the city, main causes of pollution of water bodies including Howrah river is the contamination of human waste (septage) with the water bodies, Chakraborty mentioned.

According to reports everyday water requirement of Agartala is about 53 million litres. The Howrah supplies about 25 million litres per day. "The rest is met through groundwater, which too has depleted substantially. Contamination has also been detected in the Howrah.