Survey to reclaim Parvathy Puthanar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: C Raveendran Nair of Muttathara still remembers the six feet depth of Parvati Puthanar with the river bed clearly visible through the crystalline water back in 1967. Today a group of five surveyors are trying to figure out how to end pollution near the river and make it a state waterway. The manmade river has been encroached at several locations with pathways from the road at a higher elevation leading down to houses built on what were once ghats. Interestingly, title deeds done in the past decades have ratified many encroachments.

“The 15 metre wide river almost qualifies for the benchmark set for it to become a state waterway that can connect Kovalam to Varkala. However, in the past decades hundreds of families were given land on the corner. So in order to make the river navigable with supporting facilities, at least a partial rehabilitation of some of the families has to happen in the future. These are future factors, we are only completing a basic survey,” said revenue officials.

Officials have been conducting the survey based on sketches as old as 1930. The manmade river is 18 kilometres long and documents corresponding to sketches are missing and the maps are patchy. “Some of the residents seem to be positive about a rehabilitation package in future as the polluted river hampers the health of their children. However there are full-fledged colonies in places like Muttathara where too many people live,” added the official.