Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Ombudsman order to check river pollution

Thiruvananthapuram: Ombudsman for Local Self-Government Institutions M.R. Hariharan Nair on Monday ordered the Travancore Devaswom Board, the Municipal Corporation and the Kerala Water Authority to initiate urgent steps to reduce the pollution of the Karamana river at the religiously important bathing ghats at the Parsurama Temple at Thiruvallam here.

Mr. Nair passed the order on the basis of a complaint filed by Eashwari Amma, a resident of Thiruvallam. She had filed a petition stating that the pollution of the river at Thiruvallam was posing a dire health hazard to the people living on its banks. She said most of them drew water from the river for household purposes and hundreds of those dwelling on its banks used the river for bathing and washing clothes.

The river was also religiously important to followers of the Hindu faith. Thousands of them annually thronged the bathing ghats as part of a rite to propitiate their ancestors.

The Pollution Control Board (PCB), which studied the problem, had suggested several steps, including removal of silt bars, for reducing river pollution at Thiruvallam. It had asked the Kerala Water Authority to set up a modern sewage treatment plant at the earliest to prevent the dumping of raw sewage into the river.

The PCB also suggested periodic dredging of the river (to remove silt and prevent accumulation of solid waste on the river bed) and setting up of a modern barrage system to prevent polluted water from the Parvathi Puthanar from entering the river during high tide.

The PCB had asked the Devaswom authorities to ensure the scientific disposal of the leftover of offerings made by devotees (mostly plantain leaves, earthen pots, flowers, plastic bags and rice) to prevent accumulation of solid waste on the banks of the river.

The Ombudsman said in his order that a newspaper report (with photograph) pointing to accumulation of slaughter waste on the banks of the river at Thiruvallam had also alerted him of the pollution there.

Mr. Nair visited the spot and found that the authorities concerned had not carried out the suggestions made by the PCB and other agencies. Overgrowth of river bank vegetation and accumulation of solid waste were impeding the smooth flow of the river. He said the authorities could enlist the help of residents to clean up the river. He suggested the setting up of separate bathing ghats for women devotees.

The Ombudsman also asked the government committee formed to check river pollution to meet at the earliest and chalk out an action plan for cleaning up the Thiruvallam segment of the Karamana river.

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