Agra(IANS) : Concerned over pollution of the Yamuna, Uttar Pradesh authorities have asked Indian Oil’s Mathura refinery to stop releasing waste and effluents into the river.
Principal Secretary (Urban Development) S.R. Lakha and district officials met here Friday evening and expressed concern over the deteriorating water quality of the river between Mathura and Agra.
Authorities decided to ask the refinery to stop releasing pollutants into the river, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board official A.K. Tiwari told IANS Saturday.
“Water samples would be regularly tested to ensure there was no risk to health of people and animals,” said an official.
The decision follows alarm over traces of hydrocarbons and petroleum by-products found floating in the river, which officials suspect were the main cause of large-scale deaths of fish in the river.
While refinery officials have denied releasing pollutants into the river, the stricture will help allay fears of environmentalists who have been raising the issue for several years.