The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Rishimangalam temple pond gets a fresh lease of life

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Saturday, Oct 20, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Rishimangalam temple pond gets a fresh lease of life

Special Correspondent

— Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Saving a water body: The Rishimangalam temple tank in the city being cleaned on Friday.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Rishimangalam temple tank, one of the major freshwater resources in the city, is being given a new lease of life by the Irrigation Department.

A project to clear silt from the pond and beautify the premises has been taken up with an assistance of Rs.2.5 lakh from the constituency development fund of V. Surendran Pillai, MLA.

Three pumps have been working round-the-clock from Monday to drain the tank that is fed by a perennial spring. As the water level receded, local people ventured into the mud to collect the fish thrashing about at the bottom. On Friday morning, a tracked earth mover was driven into the water body to scoop out the accumulated silt. The project involves desilting the pond and reconstruction of the damaged sidewalls.

Once the pride of the locality, the pond dating back to the Travancore era, had become a blight on the landscape after years of neglect left it choked with weeds and lotus plants. The stagnant water in the tank was a health hazard for the neighbourhood. The tank bed was filled with slush and slime.

It was in 1994 that the pond was last cleaned up by the Irrigation Department. Since then, it has slowly degenerated into a stagnant cesspool. Locals say that the introduction of lotus into the water body had led to its slow death. According to them, the proliferation of lotus was responsible for the heightened rodent menace in the locality. Rats and mice abound in the crevices on the side walls. They use the big leaves to jump across the surface of the water and feed on the lotus buds. Ward councillor Vanchiyoor Surendran said the City Corporation would take up the remaining works after the Irrigation Department completes the project. P.T. Thomas, secretary, Rishimangalam Residents’ Association said the restoration of the tank would be a boon.

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