Kerala - Alappuzha   

Kappithode pollution issue resurfaces

By Our Staff Reporter

ALAPPUZHA, FEB. 20. The problem of pollution in Ambalappuzha Kappithode, a canal which flows by the side of the Ambalappuzha flyover, continues unabated despite the promise made by the authorities to clean it up.

The pollution is mainly owing to solid and liquid wastes being deposited in the canal from peeling sheds in Ambalappuzha.

Fell unconscious

It was in 1983 that the problem attracted public attention for the first time.

Two students of Ambalappuzha Government Lower Primary School situated by the side of the canal fell unconscious after inhaling poisonous gases that emanated from the canal.

In 1984, six students fell unconscious in the classroom after foul smell emanated from the canal. Following that, students of the school went on an agitation; later, a case was filed in the High Court.

Court directive

In 1985, the court issued directives to control pollution — to dredge the canal to increase its depth, to take steps to remove impediments to easy flow of water in the canal, to ensure that liquid waste from peeling sheds were discharged into the canal only after purification, and to prevent the dumping of solid waste into the canal.

But the directives have not been implemented even 20 years later.

The Ambalappuzha North panchayat planned a project to clean up the canal in 1990; but it remains a non-starter.

In 2000, around 50 people fell unconscious after foul smell emanated from the canal. Then, Ministers and people's representatives who visited the area assured the public that steps would be taken to clean up the canal. But nothing has been done so far.

Local residents say that foul smell has again started emanating from the canal.

They fear that graver tragedies will occur if the Government fails to take steps to clean the canal.

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