Revival of rivers reaches a milestone

The Meenachil- Meenathara- Kodoor river relinking movement entered a landmark on Saturday when thousands of volunteers marched to their nearest waterbody, most of them directly linked to the three major rivers, to clean them and identify the sources of contamination.

According to Anil Kumar, convener of the river relinking project, nearly 25,000 people participated in Saturday’s district-wide initiative.

Unprecedented support

The effort received unprecedented support from the people living on the sides of the Meenachil river and its network of rivulets, especially from Poonjar to Kidangoor.

For Rajeev Pallikonam, one of the leading activists of the movement, it was a day when the common people, including men, women and children, political leaders of all hues, and leaders of various social and religious organisations, came forward on their own to be part of this unprecedented movement. “In most cases, they directly got involved in the cleaning of the waterbodies, and in other places cleaning was conducted using machinery,” he said.

The campaign was formally inaugurated by T.N. Seema, vice chairperson, Kerala Haritha Mission, at a function organised near the Elippulikkad ghat at Natassery on the banks of the Meenathara river.

Eye-opener

The huge turnout for the campaign on Saturday morning was an eye-opener for the organisers as people had come forward breaching all political differences.

In some places, they took oath to protect the water, in other places they organised 'puzhanadatham.' In some places such as Panachikkad, the work had commenced on Friday itself.

According to Mr. Kumar, there were a few grama panchayats which have failed to convene 'jala sbahs' to finalise the programme in their respective panchayats.

The cleaning operation would continue in those panchayats in the coming two Sundays, he said.