White froth appears on Periyar River near Edayar industrial area in Keralam

Water in the Periyar river near the Edayar industrial area turned white and developed a layer of frothy foam on Tuesday, prompting the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to collect water samples to determine whether the incident was caused by illegal waste discharge. Local residents noticed the froth across the river near the Pathalam bund from around 7.30 a.m and alerted officials at the Environment Surveillance Centre of the board in Eloor.

Purushan Eloor, spokesperson for the Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithi, said that a similar incident had occurred in the region on August 22, 2026. “We suspect that the discharge of untreated waste from the bonemeal and chicken waste rendering units in Edayar industrial area may have resulted in the white froth visible on the river since morning, he said.