Thiruvananthapuram: One of the sources which pollute Thettiyar canal with sewage waste is a drainage line laid in the city Mayor’s ward. It is with the cognizance of the Corporation, PWD and NHAI that the pollution is happening, accuses a collective that works for Thettiyar rejuvenation. “There was a drainage line from Kazhakkoottam market to which houses and shops would direct their sewage waste. Now a bypass has been laid cutting the National Highway bypass road. A government line directs waste water to Thettiyar canal. How can it be without the knowledge of the Mayor, PWD and NHAI?” asks Sasidharan Nair, member of Thettiyar Sahajeevan Swaraj.
The original line starts from Kazhakkoottam market and passes by the Corporation Bank branch. Work on the bypass line happened over six months ago, according to Abdul Salim, a resident. “Work on the National Highway had blocked the line which passed by Corporation Bank. So a new line had to be laid,” he says. Surely, the water flowing through the line, visible near the end where it drains into the canal, contains untreated sewage waste. DC tried to ring up the Mayor. We sent an SMS to him asking whether he was aware of the line polluting Thettiyar, but did not receive a response.
Health officials at the Corporation said that they have delivered notices to 31 houses and shops as well as sealed their sewage outlets. They also said that treated water from the market’s Effluent Treatment Plant used to be directed to the drainage line. However, since the plant is in disrepair, the waste is carried to Muttathara in a truck, they said. They were asked why the lines continue to stink of sewage waste despite the action they claimed to have taken. They replied that more offenders will be booked in the future. There is fish in the canal till it reaches this point, though polluted by shops and establishments on Vetturoad. The collective believes that there is no fish after the point, as there is little oxygen for fish to thrive.
