The Karamana River Action Plan prepared by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) as per the orders of the National Green Tribunal puts forward a mix of measures for various pollution control and mitigation activities to ensure the flow and quality of water.
The city Corporation, which has to implement the plan, has already started on some of the activities, but finds a few of the proposals impractical. One of the instructions to the civic body as part of the plan is to acquire 58 acres of land and rehabilitate 8,150 families from the banks of the river before March 2022.
According to Corporation officials, this requirement is quite a tall order for the civic body, which has been struggling to identify enough land within the city for its housing schemes for the poor.
The other actions required to be completed by the Corporation before March 2021 include a slaughterhouse and poultry waste treatment facility in the markets of Pangode and Kumarichantha.
The Corporation has already issued tender for a modern slaughterhouse at Kunnukuzhy, which could address part of the requirements.
The Corporation has also been asked to provide facilities for treatment of sewage and garbage generated in the Poonthura area between the Karamana river and the sea.
The discharge of waste water from the surrounding houses to the water near Jagathy also has to be stopped. Septic treatment facilities are to be provided for 155 houses in Kannettumukku and Kurukkuvilakom.
The plan also proposes fine and penal action including closure of units to be imposed on identification of illegal outlets into stormwater drains. Entry of stormwater and solid waste into sewer lines also should be prevented.
The plan requires the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to connect pumping lines from the terminal pumping stations at Kuriyathi, Pattoor, Kannammoola and Enchakkal directly to the Sewage Treatment Plant at Muttathara.
A 50-million litres per day (mld) sewage treatment plant at Government Medical College here is to be commissioned. The Corporation is already implementing this under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.
Adequate pump houses have to be installed in the Mudavanmughal and Enchakkal pumping stations. Outflow of sewage at the Amayizhanjan canal has to be stopped. Storm water entry into the sewer has to be controlled to avoid overflow in the Thampanoor area. The Irrigation Department is required to take activities including desilting and development measures in the Parvathy Puthanar, Amayizhanjan canal, Thekkenemkara canal, and Karimadom tank.
