Mangaluru: The opposition members in Mangaluru City Corporation council expressed concern over sewage being directly let into Nethravathi river in Thumbe upstream at 18 places under Bantwal Town Municipal Council jurisdiction. A serious demand is made on the mayor to urge the DK DC to set up a treatment plant in Bantwal to treat the sewage.

Speaking at the monthly council meeting here on Saturday, the Opposition members said tests have confirmed the presence of coliform bacteria at alarming levels in water that is being supplied to the citizens of Mangaluru. Chicken waste too is being dumped directly in to the river. Corrective steps need to be taken to check flow of sewage to the river, they said.

The members said the municipal council, which falls within Legislative Assembly constituency of District In-Charge Minister B Ramanath Rai, should have set up a sewage treatment plant. Now, only underground sewage pipelines have been laid in Bantwal town, they said.

Mayor Harinath said water supplied to citizens is pure and potable. The people need not be anxious over it. The Opposition party members should not politicize the issue. If polluted water is supplied to the city, then people would have fallen sick the moment they consume it, he said. Later, the mayor said he will to visit the sites at Thumbe where sewage is directly being let into the river.