It had been the lifeline of the towns and villages it had flowed through. River Konothupuzha was once a major waterway connecting the two major towns of Thripunithura in Ernakulam and Vaikom in Kottayam, where it drains into the Vembanad lake.
Today, the river, in most parts of its course in Thripunithura, has been reduced to a trickle with thick overgrowth, and its width reduced to just about 10 to 13 metres.
Encroachments
Haphazard developments and rampant encroachments have choked the waterway, which once connected Thripunithura, Chottanikkara, Mulanthuruthy, Udayamperoor and Ambaloor in the south and Chambakkara canal in the north. The river is now on the brink of death, says a detailed report prepared by the Minor Irrigation Department. The Department estimates that about ₹8 crore is required to do basic maintenance work and dredging to revive the dying river.
Near Thripunithura
The residents of Thripunithura have taken up the issue and submitted a memorandum to Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas, who has given a positive response, says V.P. Prasad, chairman of the Thripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents’ Association (TRURA).
“We have to revive this water body. At many places, there is no flow of water,” says Mr. Prasad, who is heading the Konothupuzha Samrakshana Samithy. The work ahead is tough as encroachments on the river happened because government departments looked the other way, he adds.
There have been earlier efforts to revive the river. The Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad had submitted a report on the river’s condition more than six years ago, but nothing positive happened.
From Karingachira
The Irrigation Department has documented the present condition of the river with photographs taken along the 17-kilometre stretch of the river from Puthenkavu to Vettuvelikadavu that requires conservation. The river ecology is almost dead, especially in the Irumpanam belt. The lack of maintenance for decades has resulted in wild growth of grass and aquatic plants and the river is almost invisible at a casual glance, says the Department’s report.
Many senior citizens in the area recall a lively river, where they spent much time in their youth, swimming, fishing or in boats. Paddy fields along the side have been lost.
The stagnant water, where mosquitoes breed, has also given rise to a number of health hazards. With the silt building up, the river is under threat of becoming extinct in certain areas.
