THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Giving a fillip to the protection and conservation of Karamana river, the lifeline of the district, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has proposed to constitute an authority, similar to that of National Ganga River Basin Authority.
The proposal assumes significance considering that the fiscal prudence measures of the Finance Department had slowed the Karamana River Scientific Management (KRSM) pilot project, which was floated in 2013-14 by KSCSTE, and implemented and monitored by Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA).
“The project got struck due to cash crunch. Because of delayed payments and arrears, contractors had stopped their works midway. Also, the incompletion of civil works due to varying reasons including lack of coordination and monitoring has affected the project,” said a TRIDA officer.
According to the officer, it was against this backdrop that KSCSTE had proposed to constitute an authority that could finance, plan, implement, monitor and coordinate various Karamana river projects.
“We have been asked not to take up new projects. We are waiting for the completion of four projects including that of two biodiversity parks on either side of the Karamana bridge. Once it is completed, the upkeep of the river will be handed over to the authority. For that the government should expedite the process of constituting the authority,” added the officer.
Meanwhile, Department of Science and Technology said that there is no such fiscal crunch as cited as it had recently sanctioned Rs 2 crore as per KSCSTE request for various activities including, biodiversity park at Karamana, check dam at Kalady, for awareness and publicity and others.
When asked about this, KG Narayana Pillai, chief project coordinator KRSM said, “KRSM is a pilot project and it can’t be extended indefinitely. Thus handing over it to authority is the need of the hour.” According to him, as KRSM is the convergence of various departments and agencies including irrigation, home, water authority, city corporation and Kerala State Biodiversity Board, an authority with powers like that of Ganga River Basin Authority could make a great difference.
“KSCSTE alone cannot protect the river. If it has to be protected, the problems related to sewer lines will have to be addressed. Thus the water authority will have to either provide additional sewer lines or provide an alternate system to avoid the discharge of sewage into the water bodies through manholes, pumping or lift stations,” added Narayana Pillai.
As per the Karamana River Action Plan, prepared by the State Pollution Control Board in February, the sewer pipes of the district were laid in 1945. Though a common sewage treatment plant of 107 MLD came into existence at Muttathara Sewage Farm in 2015, the old sewer pipes were not augmented or replaced, leading to an overloaded sewer system.
The report further lists the issues in connection with the inadequacy of sewer line, manhole overflow during rains, back-flow to toilets in Attukal, Chalai, Jagathy, Karamana, Nedumancaud, Valiyasala, and Poojappura and elsewhere.
Earlier, PS Harikumar of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management had brought out a report named ‘Water Quality Status of Thiruvananthapuram District’, in 2017. The report had highlighted that the Karamana river and its tributary Killiyar carries large quantities of raw sewage discharged from city drains. It also says that the groundwater is acidic and bacteriologically contaminated.