Nedumbassery: The history of Kerala’s development is incomplete without Nedumbassery. The airport project which took off among the paddy fields of this panchayat triggered a spate of development projects. However, mismanagement led to the failure of the developmental flight path.
In regular intervals the panchayat launched projects which have reached nowhere let alone contributed anything towards the comfort of public as a whole. The best examples of this is the market complex and bus terminal. Both of them are under utilised.
Ignoring these facts, the UDF council led by president P Y Varghese is busy in realising their dream projects-the community hall at Athani and shopping complex at Kariyad-at an estimated cost of `4 crore this financial year. It is alleged that the major issue of waste treatment is not being addressed properly. The panchayat produces two tonnes of waste every day.
“The unexpected increase in population has resulted in the generation of a large amount of waste. This has become a major challenge for the panchayat. Due to the myopic view of various panchayat councils in the past, Nedumbassery missed many chances for a proper developmental take off. The present council has not put forth any proposal to curb the menace of waste accumulation. The bio-water treatment plant at the market complex at Athani became non-functional in 2010 and no steps have been taken to restore its function. There are 25 small and large community halls in the panchayat and even then the present council wants to build another one. The 80-cent land at Athani, where the proposed hall will be built, can be utilised for any other better purpose,” said Anil Kanjily, Nedumbassery native and former district panchayat member. He added that a crematorium for the scheduled caste is the other project which the panchayat needs.
As around 500 hotels and tea shops are operating in the panchayat, waste problem is increasing day by day and it will go out of control when the new terminal of CIAL becomes operational, said P P Baiju, secretary, CPM parliamentary party, Nedumbassery.
“Waste is being dumped in Manjali Thodu which is a prominent drinking water source of the panchayat. Due to this, water-born diseases are spreading fast here. The panchayat has no concrete project to resolve the issue of waste. Unavailability of drinking water is a major problem at Cheriya Vappalisserry, Railway colony, Mekkad and Karakkattukunnu areas. Another problem is the increased number of accidents at Kariyad and Athani junctions due to the sharp turn. Neglecting these serious issues the panchayat is busy in realising the community hall and shopping complex projects which are unwanted luxuries,” he added.
“Though land filling is rampant in the panchayat the council has not taken a single step to control and stop it,” said Gejo Antony, member, Nedumbassery panchayat.
Refuting these allegations, Nedumbassery panchayat president P Y Varghese said that the panchayat is developing fast and the proposed projects are necessary. “Three irrigation projects, Myloby in Thuruthusserry, Alangakkadavu and Kuruppanayam will be commissioned this financial year. The renovation of Karimbadam project will be completed soon. Thus the drinking water problem will be resolved soon. We are providing bio gas plants and ring compost units to families for waste disposal and will continue the same,” he said.
He added that due to public objection a large waste treatment plant could not be set up in the panchayat. “The panchayat is of the opinion that waste should be treated and disposed at the point of origin,” Varghese added.