KRS demands probe on toxic content in vegetables

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Rashtra Samithi (KRS) said on Monday that the government was misleading the public on contamination of vegetables by heavy metals, and demanded an inquiry into the functioning of the sewage treatment plants (STP).

DH had, on October 25, reported the study by Environment Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) that flagged concentration of heavy metals like nickel, cadmium, chromium and lead in vegetables that exceeded the limits set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

KRS general secretary Deepak CN said that farmers and people in Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Bengaluru Rural districts depended on partially treated water being sent from Bengaluru, leading to the presence of heavy metals in vegetables. But the government was trying to brush it under the carpet, he said.

Noting the reports of contaminated water supplied in the KC Valley and HN Valley projects, he said a report by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) had highlighted the lapses in the STPs.

"During an inspection of a 60-MLD sewage plant in KC Valley, the sludge treatment digester domes were leaking. Even now, the STP is operated in the same condition. As a result, people are getting water that is not treated properly. Meanwhile, no action has been taken against the company that built the STP," Deepak said.

Further, the party urged the government to take up tertiary treatment of water.