AGARTALA, August 26 (TIWN): Tripura government’s planning on the multicrore Rs 665 crore project on Howrah river, the main drinking water source of the city. However, till date no serious steps has been taken by the state govt. to clean the river banks. Most importantly, the localities which reside nearby Howrah river are polluting the water by releasing the all kinds of garbages from home, including all the toilets from kachha latrins, claimed officials.

Atleast 8000 to 10000 people live on the banks of river Howrah, average over 5000 homes daily wastes pollute the river and govt. has no concerns so far about this.

Chief Minster Manik Sarkar spoke a lot about this Howrah beautification project, but in reality how much CM is concerned about the purification of this river’s water is questionable. Waste material can be seen throughout the year on the bank of the river on this stretch as the Government not taking up any concrete steps to stop it.
It is to be mentioned 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.

According to reports everyday water requirement of Agartala is about 53 million liters, Howrah supplies about 25 million litres per day.

“However, we have to drink this polluted water everyday as a fate”, eminent citizens told TIWN on Tuesday.