Heated political exchanges over Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s preparedness ahead of Pongala

The days leading up to the Attukal Pongala witnessed heated political exchanges over the arrangements made by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for the festival. One of the major issues has been the disruption of water supply to Manacaud and surrounding areas over the past few days.

Mayor V.V.Rajesh on Monday wrote to Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine flagging supply related issues this year compared to the previous years. “It is suspected that there is a deliberate lapse behind the non-availability of drinking water in many parts of the city in the last 10 days. It has been learned that there have been lapses in the valve control in the Vellayambalam Filter House. A high-level inquiry should be conducted regarding the valve control in the past few days,” he said in the letter.

Mr.Augustine, who assured that water supply will not be disrupted during Pongala, told the media that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) does not want to politicise the festival. “The Water Authority and the Corporation have been cooperating well to address the issue. A control room is functioning, in addition to special squads under each section office,” he said. 

S.P.Deepak, Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s leader in the Corporation, told The Hindu that the Corporation cannot shirk from its responsibility to ensure water supply. All the issues regarding supply have been addressed from the KWA’s side. “The BJP leadership in the Corporation is attempting to use the water supply issues in individual households to divert attention from its failures. Unlike in the past years, the Corporation has failed to complete tarring work in all roads. The devotees who gathered around the area near the Attukal Bhagavathy temple on Monday were unhappy about the water-logging near the temple,” said Mr.Deepak.

Unseasonal rains that hit the capital city on Sunday evening had turned the ground near the temple which used to be filled with hundreds of hearths into a muddy mess, forcing devotees to look for ideal locations further away from the temple.

The Mayor’s plan to reuse the bricks used for Pongala for construction of houses for beneficiaries under various housing schemes also invited criticism from the Left. 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.

Regarding waste management after Pongala, Mr.Rajesh said that 3,000 sanitation workers will be deployed for the post-Pongala cleanup across the city. Around 200 tipper lorries will be used to remove the waste, which will be transported to various landfills.