Borsola Beel now a sewage reservoir

GUWAHATI, March 25 ? Borsola Beel, a major water body of the city, which had all the potentials to make Guwahati an excellent modern city, has now been reduced to a sewage reservoir. It has now all the elements in it to turn it into a veritable portent for a vast area of the city. Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) sources here said that the beel water is now extremely contaminated with sewage. The beel is receiving pollutants through the municipal drains, municipal solid waste (MSW) from the wholesale fish market operating from inside the beel area and domestic wastes from the encroached and nearby habitations, the sources said. As a result of all these, the beel has now acquired all the vitiority to pollute ground water in its neighbouring areas. In case of its overtopping its banks during the rainy season, its contaminated water may create serious hygienic problems for the people of the localities in its neighbouring areas. It is worth mentioning here that the State government constituted several years back a State Wetland Board. But till today no tangible step has been seen taken by this Board, nor it has initiated any monitoring policy for the wetlands inside the city area. This Board was to study the issues related with Borsola Beel also.