3,000 sanitation workers remove waste after Pongala, separate squads retrieve bricks to be used for Corporation’s housing projects

Over the past decade, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has put in place a system to swiftly clean up the major roads in the capital city after Attukal Pongala.

The story was not much different on Tuesday, after this year’s Pongala festival. Around 3,000 sanitation workers were swiftly deployed on the roads to remove the waste materials while separate squads were used to remove the bricks to be used for the Corporation’s housing projects.

Delayed late into evening

Mayor V.V. Rajesh inaugurated the civic body’s cleanup drive. General Education Minister V. Sivankutty also oversaw the cleaning activities in various locations in the city. Although the cleanup drive started early in the afternoon, waste was not removed from some parts including the bypass area near Chackai even by late evening, unlike the previous years. The main thoroughfare from Secretariat to East Fort was washed down on Tuesday night. Although the Corporation had strictly enforced green protocol, paper cups and plates were seen strewn around at least in some areas.

From opposing to adopting housing scheme

Regarding the Corporation’s plans to reuse the bricks used for Pongala for construction of houses for beneficiaries under various schemes, V.K.Prasanth, MLA, said that the plan was first implemented when he held the Mayor post. It is heartening that those who have opposed it back then are implementing the same idea when they got power in the Corporation, he said in a Facebook post. The CPI(M)’s online handles pointed out that when the LDF-led administration had announced similar plans in the previous years, people associated with the BJP had led a false campaign against it, urging devotees to break the used bricks.

Illegal parking

Mr. Rajesh initiated a drive against illegal parking fee collection on Pongala day. Based on a tip off, he carried out an inspection at the SMV School grounds, where the PTA president and a PTA executive member were allegedly collecting high parking fees. The Corporation filed a complaint against them with the Thampanoor Police.