Another wave of floods and another cycle of destruction. The people of Kottayam, particularly in its low-lying areas, appear to be gradually adjusting to the monsoon deluge as an annual occurrence.
But as the flood waters gradually begin to recede in the Meenachil and the villages in its downstream, a political battle is brewing over a long-running project to re-link major rivers in Kottayam and keep the district floodless. Although described as a government-public collaborative, the Meenachil-Meenanthara-Kodoor river re-linking project led by K. Anil Kumar, a member of the CPI(M) State committee, is widely regarded as an extended association of the Left supporters in Kottayam.
The episode began to unfold on Friday with the United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership in Kottayam openly calling into question the efficacy of the river cleaning initiative in containing the annual flood phenomenon in Kottayam. “The floods this year has proven that the plan to deepen the Meenachil by desilting was a fraud. The entire town and its neighbouring areas have been flooded in just two days of showers,‘’ said Philson Mathews, Convenor of the UDF district committee.
Corruption alleged
He also accused the initiative of siphoning off lakhs of rupees collected as contributions from the public and also sought a vigilance probe into the alleged corruption. These allegations, raised ostensibly with the backing of the Kottayam legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, also resonated with a section of conservationists, who have been stiffly opposing the plan to de-silt the waterbody.
The re-linking collective, on its part, accused the UDF of speaking on behalf of those encroaching the river banks. Stating that the project had not received a single rupee from the State government, it also explained that the proposal to use the silt collected from the Meenachil for developing a rubber park at Velloor was being being executed through a government bid.
“As against the normal flood pattern in Meenachil, which used to witness a rise in water level right from Eratupetta, a flood situation was reported only along the downstream areas this year,’’ said Mr. Anil Kumar, convenor of the project.
He sought to attribute the floods this year primarily to the extreme rains that hit the region (149.9 mm) and a reduced capacity of the Vembanad Lake in draining out run-off water from the upstream. Listing out the project’s achievements over the years, he also challenged the detractors for an open debate on the river cleaning initiative.
“Our volunteers will be present at the Kottayam Press Club at 10 a.m. on Monday and are ready to take any questions. At the same, we too will be asking a few questions to the detractors,” added Mr. Anil Kumar.
+ There are no comments
Add yours