Medan's river 'heavely polluted'

Medan's river 'heavely polluted'

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Industrial and household waste has heavily polluted all five
rivers that flow through Medan, North Sumatra, degrading the
quality of the water, say local environment officials.

"The finding is based on a survey conducted last year in 27
spots along those rivers," said Hakimil Nasution, the head of
North Sumatra Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda).

The five in question are the Deli, Belawan, Belumai, Asahan
and Merbau Rivers.

"The pollution is extremely bad and extremely harmful to
health as many people rely on the contaminated rivers for
household needs," Hakimil told The Jakarta Post.

Rosdiana Simarmata, a researcher with the agency, said the
pollution came from people living along riverbanks who threw
their household waste into the rivers.

Household waste comprised 70 percent of the total waste dumped
into the five rivers, while the remaining 30 percent came from
industries in Medan, she added.

She warned that the growing population in Medan meant the
pollution was a virtual time bomb for city residents.

"Almost 100,000 people are currently living along the banks of
the Deli River alone," Rosdiana said.

Hakimil further said the pollution in the five rivers was
beyond a tolerable level.

The survey showed that the level of the Biological Oxygen
Demand (BOD) in the five rivers, reached between 5.60 and 12
milligrams per liter of water, while the tolerable level is less
than two milligram per liter water, he said.

Also, the level of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in the rivers
was recorded at between 11.2 and 31 milligrams per liter of
water, while the level was supposed to be less than 10 milligrams
per liter, Hakimil added.

He said water turbidity in the rivers was between 18 and 110
milligrams per liter, surpassing the maximum level of 50
milligrams per liter.

Hakimil said that the pollution must be stopped or reduced
because it would pose dangers for local villagers living along
the riverbanks. They usually used the rivers for daily household
purposes, including bathing and washing.

Hakimil said the pollution also threatened the fish in the
rivers.

He said that his office had taken measures to reduce the level
of pollution, including seminars aimed at raising the awareness
of local people and industries, to discourage them from dumping
waste into the rivers.

"If these measures are not effective, we will file a lawsuit
immediately against those polluters, most notably big
industries," he warned.