Large-scale encroachment and dumping of garbage are slowly killing Iruthulli River near the Koodathai bridge on the Edavanna-Koyilandi State highway. Environmental activists alleged that revenue authorities were yet to start the survey of the river.
P.H. Thaha of the Jilla Puzha Samrakshana Samiti said the area between the protection wall built by the Irrigation Department in the waters and the river bank had been filled with mud. Soil had been deposited to the extent of 50 metres in length, two metres in depth and 10 metres in height. After it rained in the area recently, the river got filled up as the mud seeped into it.
“After local residents and environmental activists raised the issue last week, the district administration promised to conduct a survey, which is yet to begin. As per law, construction is permitted only beyond 50 metres from the river front. But it has been violated across the district as only a few rivers, such as Mampuzha, are being surveyed by the Revenue Department,” he said. Recently cases were registered against around 30 people as they tried to construct a playground on the river bank in the nearby Kareettiparamba.
Another issue affecting the rivers, Mr. Thaha said, was the unscientific construction of check-dams and dumping of garbage. “Some elected representatives and local officials have this notion that constructing check-dams will help deal with water scarcity. But because of the unscientific nature of the construction and dumping of plastic and other waste into the waters, water sources in the surrounding areas have been polluted,” he said.
Rahman of the Iruthullippuzha Samrakshana Samiti said that he would meet District Collector U.V. Jose on Wednesday to urge him to visit the area. “We will also seek the legal recourse,” he said.
Sources in the district administration said that local-level committees and a district-level mission had been set up for the cleaning and conservation of rivers as part of the Nava Kerala Mission. Officials in the departments of revenue, local self-administration, and groundwater would be the members of the district-level mission and elected representatives would be part of the committees.
