Row over drinking water project in Thrikkakara

Ruling, opposition parties lock horns over its feasibility

The long-pending Manakkakadavu drinking water project has seen ruling and opposition parties in Thrikkakara municipality lock horns over its feasibility. The ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) council led by Congress party veteran Ajitha Thankappan said that the project would not be in the best interest of people in the eastern wards of the municipality as the quality of water from Kadambrayar had been found not fit for human consumption. She said the project was envisaged to solve drinking water shortage in eastern wards like Thengode, Edachira, Vallyattumugal and Navodaya among others but that the water had been found to be too polluted to be used for drinking water supply. However, Opposition leader and senior CPI(M) member in the council M.K. Chandrababu said that the project, initially proposed by the LDF, was being sabotaged purely on political grounds. He said that there was an urgent need to solve drinking water shortage in the eastern areas of the municipality, which the present council was not addressing.