THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The railway division refused to take responsibility for the waste management at the Amayizhanchan canal despite pressure from the state government. They maintained that steps have been taken to ensure no waste from the railway goes into the canal, but the canal remains clogged due to the unrestricted dumping of waste on the corporation side.
Thiruvananthapuram divisional railway manager Manish Thaplyal however expressed his willingness to cooperate with any joint effort by the state government in cleaning up the canal. Condoling the death of N Joy, the sanitation worker who died in the mishap, the divisional manager said that an inquiry has been constituted to study the mishap. His comment came ahead of the meeting to be convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the issue on Thursday.
The Aamayizhanchan canal is approximately 12km long and is owned by the irrigation department. Only 117 metres of the canal passes beneath the railway yard, connecting Thampanoor on the east side and Power House Road on the west side. The railway entrusted the cleaning and desilting work of the canal to Joy through the irrigation department. The work, according to the railway, was out of earnestness and social responsibility on the part of the railway as per the request of the corporation secretary.
“The railway engaged an experienced contractor of the irrigation department to clear the garbage from the railway portion of the canal. Unfortunately, due to a sudden rush of water due to heavy rains, the tragic incident took place,” it said.
“The root cause of the incident is the piling up of garbage in the Amayizhanchan canal. The portion beneath the yard has filth and garbage flowing. There is indiscriminate disposal of garbage in the canal in the corporation area,” it added.
The railway explained the measures taken from their side to prevent waste from being dumped and urged the other agencies involved to adopt similar measures to prevent dumping and punish the culprits.