The natural stream restoration work at the Aranmula puncha that has been abruptly stopped three months ago is yet to resume, as the construction wing of the Railways and the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) have failed to give a reply to the district administration’s proposal to supply them with a huge quantity of earth required for their ongoing development projects in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kollam districts.
Addressing a recent review meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Railway authorities have complained of difficulty in getting the required quantity of earth for the rail doubling works.
District Collector R. Girija has proposed that earth is readily available in Aranmula where an entire hill was illegally bulldozed into a natural stream. The administration has already started restoration of the illegally converted stream, Karimaramthodu, to its original condition on the directions of the Kerala High Court and the Railways as well as the KSTP could very well avail themselves of the opportunity to procure sufficient quantity of earth from there by paying a minimum royalty to the government.
The Collector says the proposal is beneficial to the Railways and the KSTP, as they need not go after middlemen for procuring the earth required for their development projects. Ms Girija told The Hindu that she had already written to the Chief Engineer of the Railways and the KSTP in this regard.
Though the officials of the RaiIways and the KSTP attended a meeting convened by the Collector to discuss the matter on Monday, both the parties are yet to respond to the proposal for reasons best known to them.
According to Ms. Girija, an estimated 87,000 cubic metre of earth have to be scooped out of the illegally converted portion of the natural stream and the government will get around Rs.36,00,000 lakh towards royalty alone by selling it.
The Collector, accompanied by the officials attached to the Mining and Geology, Irrigation, Revenue, and Agriculture departments, visited Aranmula puncha on Monday to take stock of the situation there. She says the natural stream has to be restored in a time-bound manner and the modus operandi will be finalised as soon as the administration received a reply from the Railways and the KSTP authorities.
