THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after T’Puram Express brought out the strange scenario at Kokkode Road in Kowdiar, where piles of condoms surfaced on the road, the authorities have acted on a war-footing. The condoms were removed on Tuesday itself after the issue came to light. T’Puram Express on Tuesday reported the deposition of condoms on the road. Following which the HLL Lifecare Ltd authorities took the initiative to clear the road — not only the stretch where condoms had surfaced but the entire Kokkode Road.
“As we do not want to confine the cleaning activity to a small area where the condoms surfaced, we are clearing the entire Kokkode stretch,” said a spokesperson of HLL. “We spoke to the contractor who does the pipeline works and he said they will be finishing the work soon. We hope to clear the entire stretch in two to three days. Further, the road will be filled with fresh soil after removing the condoms,” the spokesperson added.
The condoms were deposited here two decades ago along with the soil taken from HLL. The absence of a road was making life difficult for those residing in the area especially pregnant women and patients. Thus, for the construction of a road, the soil was unloaded by the company.
HLL wanted a place to deposit their garbage and the residents wanted a road making it a one-shot-two-birds situation.The issue came to light when piles of condoms began to surface while the road was dug to install sewage pipes in April. As many as 45 families reside on the stretch where the condoms surfaced.
Waste dumped
● Two decades ago, soil from HLL Lifecare was used to level the land to construct the Kakkode Road
● It was alleged that the soil brought from HLL contained waste materials including defective condoms
● The waste on the road didn’t raise concerns until recently when piles of condoms began to surface, while the road was dug up to install sewage pipes