Even as World Water Day was observed across the globe on Friday, the Kozhikode District River Protection Committee accused various government departments of maintaining double standards with regard to protection of major waterbodies.
“Those who organise World Water Day programmes are the ones who support the land mafia that encroach upon rivers. The renovation of the Kallayi river and the Conolly canal has remained on paper for decades,” said Faisal Pallikkandy, general secretary of the committee.
Encroachment is widespread and blatant on the banks of most rivers in the district such as Iruvazhinji, Poonoor, Chaliyar, and Mampuzha, besides the Kallayi river. However, local residents do not dare to complain to the authorities for fear of the encroachment mafia. “Information about complaints often reach encroachers from the village or panchayat office within minutes. Complainants often face life threats and pressure to withdraw complaints from the mafia,” said Mr. Pallikkandy.
He alleged that officials had conspired to ensure that the tenders floated for the revival of the estuary of the Kallai river were never fulfilled. “The estimate for the revival by desilting the river and ensuring free flow of water fixed by the government is too low due to which not many agencies are willing to take up the work. This is a deliberate move to ensure that the revival of the estuary does not take place, so that encroachments are not affected,” said Mr. Pallikkandy.
Besides encroachments, pollution of rivers is another major issue. The Kallayi is a mass of thick black water, and the condition of the Conolly canal is no different. Several attempts to clean up the canal failed due to lack of monitoring and follow-up steps. “The drains that open into the canal were closed down when it was cleaned up in 2018. But they were duly opened once the monitoring stopped,” said Mr. Pallikkandy, adding that the authorities had failed to act against polluters.
The committee pointed out that if proper steps were not taken, Kozhikode would soon face shortage of drinking water. The city could even face flooding during the monsoon like Chennai and Bengaluru, it added.
