Kerala CM calls all-party meet to muster bipartisan political support for govt’s anti-littering drive

Kerala Chief Minister calls all-party meeting to tackle urban pollution and sewage crisis amid growing public outcry.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called an all-party meeting on July 27 to muster bipartisan political support for the Kerala government’s impending drive to rid the State of garbage, plastic litter and water-contaminating raw sewage pollution. 

The special drive comes in the wake of the public outcry caused by the death of a sanitation worker who drowned while clearing the clogged and waste-laden Amayizhanjan Canal that courses through the heart of the capital city.

Moreover, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have signalled that they will make urban decay, the public health hazard posed by polluted waterways, recurrent flooding caused by choked stormwater drains, “stalled” Smart City project, dug-up roads and failure to complete the laying of sewage pipelines campaign issues to whip up anti-Left Democratic Front (LDF) sentiment ahead of the 2025 local body elections.

With urban pollution coming into sharp public focus and the Opposition politicising the issue, the CPI(M) announced a mass movement to make Kerala litter-free.

Coursing through the heart of the capital city, the Amayizhanjan Canal has become a noxiously black open sewer and breeding ground for mosquitoes spreading malaria and dengue fevers. 

Its degradation has also raised questions about the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation’s efficacy in curbing sewage and plastic pollution. 

Most stormwater drains expunge sewage and large amounts of trash into the arterial canal, which remains choked with urban sewage year-round, except during the monsoon season.