Greens drive for revival of Thoombathode river

KOCHI: The environmentalists have demanded the resurrection of Thoombathode,  also known as Kundur puzha, a tributary of Periyar that starts from Chowwara and ends at Mangalapuzha after circling Thuruth in Aluva.  It has  a length of seven kilometres and width of 40 metres.  They say that  all sorts of wastes are being dumped into the tributary while encroachments too take place unhindered. “Four decades ago, the tributary carried crystal-clear water and thousands of residents of Chowara and eastern Desom area depended on it for their needs, including drinking water. However, today it has become a stagnant mud pool,” says Prof S. Seetharaman, president of Kerala River Protection Council based at Aluva.

He said that slaughterhouse waste, plastic and other garbage are  dumped into the water body. “The human waste of  migrant labourers in the area too goes into it.  Because of this, even the water in the wells of natives  produces a stinking smell making it unfit for drinking,”  he said. The environmentalist said that encroachment too was rampant in the area while the banks were  continuously undermined.  Mr Rajeev Lal, another environmentalist and native of the area, said that the state government in association with the local bodies should evolve a masterplan to resurrect the river. “In my childhood,  we  used to play on the sand bed of the river and drank its water.  Now due to sand mining,  deep pits have been formed. Even if it rains for two days continuously, there won’t be any  flow in it,” he added.