THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation's much-hyped mega cleaning drive of Killi river unfortunately resulted in polluting the coastal area in the district. Locals informed that after the cleaning drive, waste including plastic bottles, were seen floating along the Kovalam coast. To avoid such a scenario, the local body is all set to conduct 'Suchitwa Theeram', a coastal cleaning drive on Saturday.
The local body was successful in regaining the flow of the river after its mega cleaning drive. "The wastes cleared from the river was collected at Kalladimugam with a net. Despite this, it was found that the waste reached the sea. The local body aims to process these wastes and clean the beaches," said a Corporation official. The cleaning drive will be conducted from Vizhinjam to Kazhakoottam and the waste will be segregated separately.
The garbage accumulated in the Killi river reached the sea through the estuary. As the pollution levels of the sea increased, organisations including Friends of Marine Life set out to clean the waste from the sea close to the Kovalam beach. The local body had carried out the cleaning of the river in association with residents associations and volunteers under the Clean Killiyar Mission.More than 1,000 people will be involved in the cleaning drive which will include corporation sanitation workers, the health wing of corporation, green army volunteers, the NSS volunteers and coastal area residents .
Water contamination detected
The Health Department of the Corporation had collected water samples from the eateries outside Technopark. Coliform bacteria was detected in the water supplied in plastic cans by private agencies.The inspection was conducted following the food poisoning in the Technopark campus few weeks back.
“Clear instructions have been given to the health inspectors to inspect the water supplied in plastic cans to check for any contamination. It has also been brought to the notice of the health wing that food colour is being added to the fruit juices sold outside Technopark,” said a corporation official. Although the corporation officials try keeping regular checks, small eateries and restaurants often depend on these water cans for cooking purposes. It is difficult to check the water quality as distributors are mainly private agencies.
Cleaning drive
The cleaning drive will be conducted from Vizhinjam to Kazhakoottam and the waste will be segregated separately