The Meghalaya government has claimed that a detoxing pilot project has brought the Lukha river back from the dead.
- The Lukha — “reservoir of fish” in the local Pnar language — was considered toxic beyond redemption a decade ago.
- The Meghalaya Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had in its 2012 investigative report blamed the contamination on acid mine drainage and run-off from the coal mines.
- The Lukha river is in the East Jaintia Hills district where most of Meghalaya’s rat-hole coal mines are located.
- The pilot project to rejuvenate the Lukha by using algae to remove toxic contents from the water has become a success. The detoxification process is called phycoremediation.
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