Kerala CM calls online meet on July 18 for steps to clear capital’s waste-clogged canals and mitigate flooding
The Hindu
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan calls urgent meeting to address flooding caused by urban waste, sparking political tensions and public health concerns.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urgently called for an online meeting on July 18 to address the pressing issue of flooding caused by urban waste and debris clogging stormwater drains and canals in the capital city.
In a proactive move, which the Opposition termed as “belated”, the Kerala government has identified the urban refuse obstructing the segment of the Amayizhanjan Canal that passed under the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station as the central contributor to the chronic flooding in the Thampanoor area.
The death of a sanitation worker while attempting to clear the Amayizhanjan Canal of trash and discarded waste had brought the city’s choked-up canals and stormwater drains under a harsh spotlight. It also triggered a public outcry and incited a war of words between the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and the Railway authorities.
Mr. Vijayan has also invited the Divisional Manager, Railways, and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor to attend the top-level ministerial meeting.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan told reporters in Wayanad that the government had woken up to the problem tardily.
He said plastic waste and urban litter asphyxiating urban canals were a public health risk and an eye sore. The government’s failure to restore natural drainage resulted in recurrent floods. Thiruvananthapuram was particularly hard hit.
Thousands of ordinary working-class families living on the edge of the capital city’s canals were most at risk from flooding, pollution, water and vector-borne diseases.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has sought a report from the State government on a complaint that the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had taken up works amounting to ₹387 crore in violation of rules in Varuna and Srirangapatna Assembly constituencies, allegedly on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s oral instructions.
“We are organising a health research convention, which comprises a couple of workshops, community-based learning, and also cardiac care. We also included a one-day seminar on medical education, how medical education has evolved in India and the U.K., and what we can learn from each other” said Dr. Piruthivi Sukumar Dean of the International Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds during his interaction with The Hindu.