Raxaul, Oct. 27: Chhath Puja has brought together people living in the Terai region on either side of the Bihar-Nepal border on a common platform through a protest against industries releasing untreated effluents into the Sariswa.

So high is the level of discharge of harmful chemicals that the pollution in the river has reached alarming proportions.

Almost 1,000 women from the Terai region in both the countries today gathered under the banner of Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan near Naga Math on the riverbank and lit 2,051 earthen lamps as a mark of protest.

Chairperson of Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan Anil Sinha told The Telegraph: “This important river, regarded as the Ganges of Nepal, originates from Ram Van near Semra in Nepal and meets the Burhi Gandak near Sugauli in East Champaran district, about 30km north of Motihari.” She has brought the present condition of Sariswa and the people’s woes arising out of it to the knowledge of the governments of both the countries and the administration of the bordering districts and urged them to take urgent steps ahead of Chhath Puja.

A memorandum was submitted to foreign minister S.M. Krishna and Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan on August 5 this year. The Nepalese President and the Prime Minister have also been apprised of this through separate letters, Sinha said.

Separate applications were submitted to Parsa chief district officer Tara Nath Gautam and the superintendent of police of the district concerned, Ramesh Prasad Kharel.

They assured full co-operation at the administrative level in cleaning the river in the run-up to Chhath and also warned industrialists to be cautious in keeping the river clean at least till Chhath.