For years now Periyar has been claiming innocent young lives during vacation by trapping them in its ubiquitous deep pits left behind by indiscriminate sand mining.
The drowning of two teenage sisters at a private sand ghat near Manjummal on Thursday has only reaffirmed that seasonal vacation trend stirring the district administration into tackling the issue head-on.
District Collector M.G. Rajamanikyam said that the district administration is all set to crack the whip on local bodies, which claim funds for river bank protection but do precious little. “The issue will be raised at the district development committee meeting to be held next week. An audit would be proposed to analyse the utilisation of funds granted under the river management fund (RMF) and local bodies, which fail to do anything significant, would be asked to return the allocation,” Mr. Rajamanikyam told The Hindu . In the last financial year alone, about Rs. 12 crore was allocated under the RMF. The latest incident is yet another reminder that despite the liberal allocation, local bodies fail to undertake meaningful measures like restricting access to ghats and appointing security guards towards that end. Funds would continue to be granted to local bodies for river bank protection, but henceforth checks would be put in place to ensure its utilisation, Mr. Rajamanikyam said. Aluva municipal chairman M.T. Jacob said that the civic body would consider putting up warning boards at all ghats within its limits in the wake of the latest tragedy targeting especially outsiders unaware of the lurking danger.
