‘Save Guruganga’ campaign reaches Bidar

The ‘Save Guruganga’ campaign, which began in Manik Nagar, has now extended to the Bidar district headquarters, with residents of several villages around Manik Nagar and Humnabad staging a ‘Bidar Chalo’ protest in the city on Monday, demanding urgent action to protect the Guruganga stream from industrial pollution.

The protest was led by Shri Manik Prabhu, Samsthan secretary, Anandraj Manik Prabhu and joint secretary Chaitanyaraj Prabhu, and Congress leaders Rajashekar Patil and Bheemrao Patil.

The protesting villagers travelled by train from Humnabad to Bidar and took out a silent march from the railway station to the Deputy Commissioner’s office. They later submitted a memorandum to the district administration seeking the closure of the industries allegedly discharging untreated effluents into the Guruganga stream.

The protesters said the Guruganga stream is a vital source of water for several villages in Humnabad taluk and supports agriculture and the livelihoods of local communities. However, the discharge of industrial effluents has severely contaminated the stream, making its water, according to the villagers, unfit even for agricultural use in several stretches.

They alleged that the deteriorating quality of the water was also affecting aquatic life. Fish and other aquatic organisms are dying as a result of the pollution, they claimed. The villagers further alleged that people living in the affected areas were suffering from various health problems, which they attributed to prolonged exposure to and consumption of contaminated water.

The protesters urged the district administration to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the water quality, identify the industries responsible for the pollution and take stringent action against factories violating environmental norms. They also demanded that the discharge of untreated industrial waste into the stream be stopped immediately and that measures be taken to restore the Guruganga to its original ecological condition.

The villagers warned that the campaign would be intensified if the authorities failed to initiate concrete measures to protect the waterbody and the communities dependent on it.