THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the face of it, there is little similarity between Vilappil panchayat, lying in the outskirts of the district, and Kallingal ward which falls right within the Corporation limits in Kazhakkoottam. But people in both places share the same plight - of being in the middle of filth generated by others. If it is the waters of Meenampally that bear the brunt in Vilappil, it is the Thettiyar ‘thodu’ that has turned dirty black, thanks to the filth pumped into the water body by the high-rises, in Kallingal.While there is development all around them, the local people in Kallingal are living in constant fear of getting lost in the concrete jungle. They are gearing up for protests, motivated by the fight of the people in Vilappil. Years ago, before flats and high-rises in Kazhakkoottam changed the look of the place, Thettiyar was the lifeline of the people here. When the place took its position on the IT map of Kerala, a change set in.Now, with flats, schools and companies finding an easy outlet in Thettiyar to drain their filth, the ‘thodu’ has died and so has a natural water source for the local people here. The foul smell emanating from the canal, which worsens during the rains, has made life hell for them. ‘’The sewage from the Technopark campus, the animal waste from a nearby poultry farm and the drainage from many flats are pumped into the canal at its various points. Once it turned filthy, even the people living on its banks began to use it as a trash dump. The canal is now the breeding place of many diseases,’’ says Venugopal, Kallingal Residents’ Association member.The Association has already submitted a memorandum to officials in Technopark, the Corporation and the MLA seeking a solution.Attipra councillor M S Sangita says that the canal has a portion of it flowing inside the Phase I of Technopark campus. It passes adjacent to Phase II and now Phase III also.‘’While officials in Technopark say that they have a waste-disposal mechanism, there is a pipeline opening into the canal in Kallingal from the campus. Many flats in the area are also doing the same thing,’’ she says. However, Technopark CEO Merwin Alexander says that Technopark is not adding any bit of pollution to Thettiyar canal, which is already polluted even before it enters the campus. ’We have set up our own sewerage system, the waste is treated there. During rains, the natural drains flow into the canal, but that is not polluting the water. We take up environment audit and ISO audit frequently. There is no fact in what the local people say,’’ says Merwin.An Irrigation official, who prefers anonymity, says that during the construction of a building belonging to a prominent IT firm, a portion of the canal was filled up. ‘’It was a water catchment area; with the canal getting covered, the flow of drain was affected and the ‘thodu’ began to die,’’ he says. With the construction work for Phase III development of Technopark moving ahead in full steam, local people say development has only added to their worries.‘’We cannot even go for a mass agitation since many of our people left the place when government acquired land for Technopark development. The rest of us have no place to go and cannot go on living here if this is how our water sources and habitation are going to be affected,’’ says Ramlal, a resident here and AIYF mandalam secretary. Different outfits here are planning to organise young men and launch a protest soon - amidst doubts if they would be heard or not.
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