Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Temple served notice for pond pollution

Special Correspondent

Padmanabha Swamy temple asked to close comfort station

Thiruvananthapuram: Revenue Divisional Officer K.V. Mohankumar on Friday issued notice to the management of the Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple to close down the public comfort station. which pollutes the Padmatheertham temple pond.

The notice issued under Section 142 of the Criminal Procedure Code says that the Pollution Control Board had reported alarming levels of faecal coliform content in the water, pointing to a public health hazard. The report says the old toilets near the eastern entrance to the temple were responsible for the contamination.

In March last year, the RDO had launched criminal proceedings against the City Corporation, the District Medical Officer and the temple administration for failure to check the pollution. The action followed a complaint by the Citizens Protection Forum. The forum said the pond had turned into a breeding centre for mosquitoes, making life miserable for the local people. The temple was also directed to come up with an action plan to restore the pond and check its pollution.

In November 2006, the PCB issued notice to the temple under Section 33 A of the Water Act, asking it to relocate the toilets 10 metres away from the pond. At a meeting convened by the RDO in April this year, the Executive Officer of the temple sought time till May 31 to relocate the toilets.

“We decided to invoke the Criminal Procedure Code because they failed to honour the commitment,” Mr. Mohankumar said. A spokesman for the temple management said he had received the notice issued by the RDO. “We will reply to the notice after seeking legal advice. We had informed them earlier that it will be difficult to close down the toilet block used by so many devotees. Our investigation revealed that there is no sewerage leak from the toilets,” he said.

Residents and pilgrims have been demanding steps to conserve the pond. There is only one public comfort station for thousands of pilgrims. The last renovation of the pond was in 1989 when the administration joined hands with voluntary agencies to pump out the water and clean the bed.

Experts say that the absence of inflow and drainage had led to stagnation of the water in the tank. The Irrigation Department has been directed to open the inlet and outlet for proper flushing.

Meanwhile, the temple trust has enlisted the services of a biomedical consultant to restore the pond. Six pumps have been installed in the mandapams along the periphery of the tank to spray jets of water at intervals to increase the oxygen content. The second phase of the project involves the use of a slurry pump to remove the sludge on the bottom of the pond.

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