A writ petition was filed in the Kerala High Court on Monday, seeking a directive to the District Collector and the Kochi Corporation to take urgent steps to clean up Rameswaram canal in Fort Kochi. The petition was filed by two housewives residing by the side of canal. The petitioners said that thousands of people were residing on the banks of the 6.4-km-long canal.
The canal, also known as Kalvathy canal, was linked to the development of Fort Kochi. The grievance of the petitioners was that the canal was not being cleaned up regularly. As a result, foul smell was emanating from the water and it had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The petitioners said that it was impossible for them to lead a comfortable life and they were denied their right to have a pollution-free environment.
The canal was once used for meeting the water needs of the city and its suburbs. The people living by the side of the canal as well as the business establishments were indiscriminately dumping waste, including plastic, into the canal, the petitioners said.
The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation and the KMRL had plans to develop and clean up the canal. However, the Kochi Corporation had not initiated any action on this despite repeated complaints. It was the duty of the corporation to undertake cleaning up operations regularly.
The civic body could not justify their inaction in any manner.
The petitioners sought a directive to install CCTV cameras on the banks of the canal to prevent people from dumping waste into it.