The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Cleaner Karamana river in sight

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Friday, Mar 14, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Cleaner Karamana river in sight

Special Correspondent

Check dam to be built at Thiruvallam

To check flow of polluted water from Parvathy Puthanar
Residents’ forum
to agitate for
river clean-up

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for Water Resources N.K. Premachandran informed the Assembly on Thursday that moves were on to construct a check dam at Thiruvallam to check pollution in Karamana river.

Replying to a submission moved by Kovalam MLA George Mercier, he said the dam would be constructed near the confluence of the left bank of the Parvathy Puthanar canal with the Karamana river to prevent the polluted water of the canal from reaching the area near the Parasurama temple near Thiruvallam. The Minister said the Executive Engineer, Irrigation, had been asked to execute the project.

Mr. Premachandran said the pollution of the canal could be resolved only when the sewage treatment plant at Valiathura becomes operational. The Kerala Water Authority was working on a project to construct a new treatment plant, he added.

Waste flows thus

“The Parvathy Puthanar joins the Karamana river near Thiruvallam. The smaller branch of the canal flows around the Edayar island before joining the Karamana river near the Thiruvallam bridge. During high tide, silt accumulates in the canal, blocking the flow of water. The back flow from the polluted canal reaches the Karamana river up to the Thiruvallam bridge. Desilting the canal will improve the flow of water up to the sand bar,” he said. The Minister said the government had taken steps to construct two groins at Panathurakara to the south of Poonthura sand bar to keep the mouth of the river open. The groins have been designed with technical expertise from the IIT, Chennai, he added.

Meanwhile, the Trivandrum Residents Apex Council (TRAC) has announced an agitation to press the government for urgent steps to resolve the pollution of Karamana river. A press note quoting TRAC general secretary Amaravila Ramakishnan Nair said the pollution was posing a serious health hazard for families residing on the banks. The council is planning to stage a dharna before the headquarters of the Travancore Devaswom Board on Friday to highlight the demand.

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