THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Frustrated residents along Arasumoodu-Kuzhivila Road have launched a campaign, and put up a hoarding with the message - ‘road und sookshikkuka’ (Beware, road ahead) in several places to mark their protest and draw attention of the authorities to its terrible condition. They have put up hoardings near major landmarks, including Infosys, to highlight the dilapidated condition of the road that has continued to be in ruins for the past eight years.
As many as 550 families residing in the densely populated area surrounding the IT zone have come out in stiff protest and formed an action council to highlight the apathy of the authorities. The residents are planning to stage a protest on April 24 to mark the eighth death anniversary of the road at Thampuranmukku.
“It’s been eight long years and the work taken up by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for laying the sewage lines has been dragging on. We are unable to even walk throught the pothole-ridden road. The entire stretch is under severe flash flood threat too. We have waited so long thinking that they would finish off the work, but it is not happening. Hence, we formed an action council. The response to this move has been overwhelming and families in large numbers have started attending our meetings,” said Santhosh R, a member of the action council.
He said that they will not back off from the protest until the authorities come up with a permanent solution to the drinking water crisis, flash flood threats, and bad condition of the road. Nearly five years back, the KWA launched the `15.02-crore project to lay a sewage line and dug open the 2.4-km stretch from Arasumoodu to Kuzhivila as part of the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) project. After 3.5 years, the KWA terminated the contract as they were not satisfied with the progress of the work.
An official of the KWA associated with the project said that the work is nearing completion. “There were delays and we cannot blame the residents for the protest. But it is an essential project and only 50 to 100 metre stretch is remaining. We handed over the rest of the road to the PWD in December. The condition of the road remains in ruins because of the gas pipeline laying work, but the residents continue to blame the KWA. Once the gas pipe-line work is completed, the PWD will tar the road,” said the official.
Flooding is a major issue faced by the residents in the area. “Massive development activities were carried out as part of the Technopark development. The Thettiyar Thodu was encroached in many places disrupting the natural flow of water through the stormwater drains and the residential areas surrounding the IT Park are suffering because of this,” said Sanjeev S J of Environmental Protection and Research Council (EPRC).
Yuhas Ismail, another resident, said that memorandum and complaints have been given to the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), City Corporation, PWD. “There is no drainage network in the area and the City Corporation has taken no effort to construct stormwater drains here and we have been facing severe flooding. We are raising three issues and demanding solutions for them,” he said.