Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly nine hours after a man went missing in the canal choked with massive quantities of waste at the centre of Kerala's capital, the blame game has begun. The secretary of Thiruvananthapuram corporation had on June 19 sent a notice to the regional manager of the Southern Railway division, Thiruvananthapuram, citing the immediate need to clean the part of the canal that runs beneath the railway station at Thampanoor.

The Railways was asked to get the job done in seven days, failing which the corporation would invoke relevant penal provisions and fine as mandated in the Municipality act, the notice said.

The notice mentioned that despite calling several meetings and sending communications, the Railways did desilting only for 200 metres at the other side of the canal near the Power House road. The notice directed the Railway authorities that if the portion under the station was not cleaned, it would result in flooding and cause large-scale losses to residents and shopkeepers.

Corporation health standing committee chairperson Gayathri Babu said the Railways did not clean the canal even after seven days. “We issued a reminder, held another meeting and only then the work started. At present, our priority is on removing waste from both sides and work is underway," she said.

Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has blamed the city corporation for the mishap. “When an accident happened, the corporation has put the blame on Railways. If Railways made lapses, it should have been brought to the attention of central and state governments,” he said in a statement.

Challenging job
The canal measuring 140 m in length has always posed major challenges in cleaning. During Operation Anantha in 2016, 700 loads of waste were removed from the stretch. Then a mini excavator was used to clean the portion of the canal under the railway station. (In his account of Operation Anantha, former Collector Biju Prabhakar had referred to cleaning workers who scooped up heaps of filth from the canal as 'real heroes.')

One major challenge in the removal of waste is the presence of two pile foundations in the middle of the canal standing at approximately 2.5 m height. Waste coming from various parts of the city through the canal gets stuck here leading to accumulation. This even causes a reverse flow of water.

Corporation authorities said that there was an unusual gush of water on Saturday in the canal due to heavy showers and Joy, one of the labourers engaged in cleaning of canal, may have been pushed deeper by the weight of heaps of garbage in the canal. There had been discussions in the past about the removal of pile foundation to facilitate the smooth flow of water however no steps were taken.

Railway authorities told Onmanorama that cleaning of the canal began following a meeting convened by the district collector. Meanwhile, questions are also being raised as to why labourers were engaged during heavy showers to clean the canal. Officials of the Major Irrigation Department said it was never advisable to clean the canal during showers considering the scale of waste and flow of water.