Surveillance cameras set up by the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) along the Eloor-Edayar industrial stretch of the Periyar have stopped functioning.
The PCB had installed nine cameras to monitor changes in colour and turbidity parameters of the river. The cameras were installed after the earlier units had remained defunct for long.
Board officials admitted that the cameras had stopped working. The cable network for these units is set up along the FACT premises. It got snapped recently, resulting in the breakdown of the surveillance cameras, they said.
With the cameras turning off, the board will not be able to monitor the sudden discolouration in the river, especially along the Eloor-Edayar stretch. The Periyar had turned black near the Pathalam shutter on Friday. Several such incidents of colour change were reported in 2023 and 2022.
The officials said efforts were on to restore the damaged cables. The procedure of initiating the work would require time and hence it would be difficult to point out when it will be ready, they said.
