BLATANT VIOLATION: Plantains planted along the Pattom canal at Chalakuzhy, near Medical College, in the city. The encroachment of the canal is a major cause of flooding in the area. - Photo: S. Gopakumar

Thiruvananthapuram: Unchecked encroachment of Pattom canal and its banks is threatening to inundate Medical College area in the city.

Residents in the neighbourhood of the canal have moved the Government with an appeal to remove the encroachments and restore the waterway.

Several huts and concrete buildings have come up on the canal puramboke and close to the banks near the Chalakuzhy bridge in blatant violation of municipal rules.

Some of the buildings have even encroached into the canal, blocking the flow of water. Protracted litigation has prevented the City Corporation from demolishing the unauthorised constructions in the conservation zone of the canal.

On both sides of the bridge, local people have taken to farming on the canal bed in portions where heavy siltation has pushed the banks into the water body. Plantains line the extended banks while the canal struggles to flow through the narrow channel.

Residents point out that the encroachers were trying to influence Revenue officials to procure possession certificates for the land. "Such is the extent of encroachment that the authorities have had to abandon road works and proposals to lay water and sewerage pipelines and electric posts. Periodic dredging of the canal bed has also been given up because of the lack of space to dump the sand and silt removed from the water," says Y. Daniel, former joint secretary of the Medical College East Residents Association. Local people allege that encroachers were desperately trying to procure possession of land in a bid to bypass eviction notices issued by the High Court.

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