Clean-up of a portion of Thettiyar canal begins

Drive focusses on clearing waste and widening canal

Efforts to revive the Thettiyar canal, once a source of crystal clear water, have begun with the city Corporation’s clean-up drive along the section of the canal that passes through the Kazhakuttam ward. The canal stretches for 16 km from Pallippuram Anathaazhchira to Akkulam lake. It has in recent years become a pale shadow of its self, with encroachment and dumping of waste by institutions and households.

4.5-km stretch

The current clean-up drive covers a stretch of 4.25 km from Vettu Road to Technopark. According to an official of the local body’s health wing, the drive focusses on removing the accumulated waste, increasing the depth and clearing up the flow. The encroachments on either side will be looked only at a later point of time.

“Over the past two days, we have cleared up the portions of the canal from Vettu Road to Ragam auditorium. Sanitation workers as well as employees under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are part of the drive. We are using JCBs to remove the waste and increase the depth.

“ But, yesterday one of the machines got stuck and some time was lost due to that,” says Saiju, Junior Health Inspector in the Kazhakuttam region.

Survey

The Corporation had earlier conducted a survey on the waste dumps and on the sewerage outlets from houses to the canal. Notices were issued and most of these outlets have been sealed and alternative arrangements made, say officials.

Residents in nearby Vedanvilakam and surrounding areas in Kulathoor have been raising the issues faced due to accumulation of waste and the reduction in width of the canal. They have complained of their wells being polluted and the area facing unprecedented flooding during rain.