Periyar pollution: PCB serves closure notice on chicken rendering unit in Edayar

The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has served closure notice on Alliance Marine Products in the Edayar industrial development area as part of the probe into the incident in which the water in the Periyar turned white and developed a layer of frothy foam on Tuesday (September 1, 2026).

The closure notice was issued to the chicken waste rendering unit on Thursday (September 3, 2026) under Section 32 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The action was taken after inspections by officials of the Environment Surveillance Centre of the Board in Eloor on Thursday morning found unauthorised effluent discharge through the stormwater outlet pipe into the river. They also found that workers were cleaning vehicles that brought chicken waste using hydrogen peroxide, and the discharge was directed into the stormwater drain in violation of norms.

A senior representative of the company said a lean discharge was detected along the stormwater drain at the time of inspection by the board officials. However, he denied the contention that the white frothy foam occurred in the river owing to the discharge from the company premises. “The board can verify the results of the samples collected from our premises and the river to ascertain whether it occurred from our unit. We had earlier submitted proof of similar incidents of layers of white frothy foam found in the river before the board officials,” he said.

Residents had noticed the froth across the river near the Pathalam bund from around 7:30 a.m., and they alerted officials at the Environment Surveillance Centre of the PCB in Eloor.

The board had sought an explanation from Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), Udyogmandal, regarding the suspected industrial discharge into the Periyar. A notice was issued based on earlier inferences of suspected discharge of a white gel-like foam into the river. The FACT management had on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) rejected doubts over whether the white froth detected on the river stretch on Tuesday was following a discharge from the unit.