THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second phase of Operation Anantha never commenced due to the reluctance of the first Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government to confront influential businessman and bar owner Biju Ramesh, sources said.
A confrontation emerged as authorities reached Biju Ramesh’s hotel at East Fort, which was situated above a drain that required dismantling. A former chief secretary informed TNIE that although the LDF Government recalled the file on Operation Anantha 1 in 2016, the project never materialised.
TNIE had reported on Sunday how the architects, then chief secretary Jiji Thomson and former Thiruvananthapuram district collector Biju Prabhakar, behind Operation Anantha 1 have been dejected over the latest flash floods which ravaged the capital city during the weekend. Their efforts were halted when revenue officials uncovered encroachments over the Thekkanamkara Canal, a 1940-built underground stormwater canal that spans 500 metres from a shopping hub at East Fort to Vazhapally. Biju Ramesh’s alleged encroachment of the Thekkanankara Canal resulted in his legal battle with the High Court and later the Supreme Court, with the case still pending before the latter.
Upon inquiry, it was discovered that a successor of Jiji Thomson had submitted a scientific report advocating the continuation of the second phase of Operation Anantha, which was unfortunately disregarded by the LDF government to safeguard the interests of the controversial businessman. “I was shocked to realise that it was done to protect the interests of the controversial businessman. The state government had not returned the file until I had retired,” a former chief secretary lamented to TNIE.
However, Biju Ramesh vehemently denied any encroachment allegations, citing a report from the expert team at Kanpur IIT that supposedly confirmed no obstruction to the flow of water toward the drain.
“Kanpur IIT’s report had been submitted before the Supreme Court. There have been several political connotations behind the allegation of encroachment. If I’d changed my stand on the bar scam, the case on the encroachment issue would have been withdrawn. The current flooding has got nothing to do with the stalling of Operation Anantha. The fault lies with the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation who has not initiated any cleaning drive of the drains”, said Biju Ramesh.
AWAITING SC DECISION
To proceed with Operation Anantha, the state government must await the Supreme Court’s decision on Biju Ramesh’s plea, where he argues that the ‘Pandaram Vaka’ land in question was originally given to his mother, Indira, by Rama Varma, a member of the former Travancore Royal family