Operation Anantha encroachers back

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Encroachments razed as a part of operation Anantha have started to re-appear over drain slabs at Pazhavangadi and Chalai and there seems to be no protest against them. On the first day of the flood mitigation operation, officials had razed a generator shed and a cottage that stood over the drain behind Government Homeo Hospital. The cottage located between Abhedanada Ashram and Home Hospital was rented out to migrant workers. Three years later, the cottage has reappeared and its illegal compound wall stands over the drain.

A cottage that was razed down was rebuilt and a compound wall was constructed over drain near Government Homeopathic Hospital at Pazhavangadi. (Photo: A.V. Muzafar)

Close to Pazhavangadi temple, stalls have reappeared over drains and continue to litter the area. Similarly, a few hundred metres away in Chalai, a pathway and drain that was reclaimed by revenue officials have been fenced and barred to the public by the encroachers. They had arranged for waste dumping to prevent a thoroughfare for people between Chalai and Putharikandom maidan. “During the beginning of operation Anantha, the administration had demolished a handful of shops. This included the illegal godown of a footwear chain over the drain. Today, signalling the first stage of encroachments they have blocked the alley,” said another trader who operates around Vridavan lane.

The reclaimed bylane between Putharikandom maidan and Chalai has been fenced and filled with garbage by encroachers. (Photo: A.V. Muzafar)

The drain below the alley was widened and a huge slab was made to create the new path. Despite claiming that the godown over it was tantamount to an encroachment, revenue officials had provided an alternative place for the godown. “It is up to the Corporation to decide whether to develop this lane and provide a thoroughfare for people going from the railway station to East fort,” said a revenue official.