MLA hostel blocks named after rivers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Who doesn’t love rivers? Speaker G Karthikeyan counters when you ask him the reason for naming blocks in the MLA Hostel after rivers.The five blocks in the MLA Hostel campus near the Kerala University HQ are now known after rivers. The Old Block will henceforth be known as ‘Nila’, after the northern water body that has been so close to the Malayali psyche for centuries.The New Block has been christened ‘Pampa’; the Old Flat, ‘Periyar’; New Flat I, ‘Chandragiri’; and New Flat II, ‘Neyyar’. Orders regarding the names were issued on Wednesday evening by the Speaker.All MLAs have rooms at the hostel, which is abuzz with activity once the Assembly is in session, as it is now.  ‘’Who doesn’t love rivers? Everyone does,’’ says Karthikeyan. The idea is partly inspired by Technopark, which has names for buildings.  ‘’There was no particular reason for the decision. You give a name to your home. The Technopark already has names for its buildings,’’ he said.‘’Moreover, rivers are quite near to humans. Many of the greatest civilisations were born on river banks,’’ he said. The Legislature Secretariat has also ensured that the best-known rivers from the north of Kerala to the south have found representation at the MLA Hostel.