Encroachers choke Pallithode canal

ALAPPUZHA: The encroachments on the banks of  Pillathode canal that passes through the heart of Haripad constituency have choked the flow of water making life miserable for the people.  According to G. Radhakrishnan, a local resident and an environmentalist, "people are suffering due to the  stench emanating from the stream due to the encroachments.  Unless it is  cleared at the earliest, the water body will become a breeding ground of epidemics," he said.     The Haripad village officer  had reported the encroachments on the banks of Pillathode on April 25 this year. The report called for an urgent  survey to know whether  the poromboke was encroached.

Karthikappally tahasildar S. Vijayan had  found 2.4-metre encroachment in Pillathode poramboke sub-division  that passes beside the land owned by Jiji Oommen, G. Cottage, Manatharayil, Haripad,  opposite to  the under-construction multiplex complex of Aashirvad Cinemas of M. J. Antony aka Antony Perumbavoor, aide of actor Mohanlal,  along NH 66 near Madhava Junction, Haripad.   The report was prepared by D.L. Sheenamol, taluk surveyor under the supervision of the  tahasildar on July 27 on the orders of  the then district collector Veena N. Madhavan based on a report published by  Deccan Chronicle on July 20. However, no  action has been against the law-breakers.

Haripad village officer  Amod M. Das said that  further action could not be taken as  Mr Oommen submitted a petition rejecting the charge in the tahasildar's report.  "We will issue a  notice to restore  the encroached land soon," he said. The  survey report had given a clean chit to   Ashirvad Cinemas  after a resurvey  was carried out in the plot on the basis of the complaint registered by Samskarika Samanwaya Vedi, a cultural outfit of local people.  The report said, "no encroachment had occurred in the Ashirvad Cinemas land that connects Pillathode close to NH. However, illegal construction  by Jiji Oommen was seen  in the eastward portion of  Pillathode.  At least 2.4 metres of  encroachment was identified in the north portion of land with survey number 286/2  and  two metres in  the southward portion.   As the rest  of Pillathode is covered with thickets, no more portion was surveyed," the report said.           

The Pillathode,   the oldest stream passing  through Haripad,  originates  from eastern nada of Subhamanya Swamy temple, Haripad and flows  through Karathikapally, Pallipad and Haripad villages. The tahasildar  had told DC in August that the exact extent of encroachments on the bank of Pillathod can  be determined only after conducting a  survey in the entire area and that he had issued a notice to the municipality authorities for the purpose.  However, no further steps have been taken on it.