The Sabarimala Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court has apprised the court of the need to restore river Pampa in the foothills of Sabarimala as well as the banks to its pre-deluge condition through well coordinated efforts by various stakeholders.
In his report submitted to the court a year ago, Special Commissioner M. Manoj had stated that each stakeholder should report to the court regarding the steps taken for restoration of river Pampa along the Triveni-Njunangar Bridge stretch.
The State government, Forest Department, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Irrigation Department, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), Institute of Land and Disaster Management and Kerala Water Authority (KWA) are the major stakeholders.
The report said long-term and short-term plan may be initiated to remove the sand accumulated on the riverbed and on the banks. The report further said the stakeholders may be directed to consider and implement the recommendations of the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) before removing the sand deposits in the Pampa. The report also suggested that the stakeholders may be directed to prepare a Disaster Management Plan for Pampa-Triveni-Njunangar stretch of the river.
NCESS findings
The NCESS expert team headed by senior scientist D. Padmalal had found huge accumulation of a heterogenous-type bed materials containing a wide spectrum of particles such as sand, gravel, cobbles and boulders, along with huge uprooted trees at Pampa-Triveni.
Preliminary observations quantified the volume of bed materials accumulated at 40,000 cubic meters (sand, gravel, cobbles and boulders). More than 75% of this was construction grade sand and gravel, said Dr. Padmalal.
The Irrigation Department had quantified the quantum of sand deposit at 75,000 cubic metre while a Revenue Department survey had put it at 1.29 lakh cubic metre.
408 truck loads shifted
Thiruvalla Subcollector Vinay Goyal, who is charge of the ongoing sand removal mission, said a total of 698.7 cubic metre (408 truck loads) of sand and silt had been removed on Thursday and Friday.
Dr. Goyal said 13 earth movers and 31 trucks were deployed for shifting the sand collected from the riverbed to the site suggested by the Forest Department at Chakkupalam, near the KSRTC depot, on Friday.
