Thiruvananthapuram: After a sanitation worker was swept away in the Amayizhanchan canal here in the heart of the city on Saturday, senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor accused the Corporation of its “incompetence and irresponsibility” resulting in the accident. Tharoor stressed that the municipal authorities are fully responsible for the timely maintenance and cleaning of canals.

Joy (47), a native of Marayamuttom, went missing while clearing a garbage pile at the Thampanoor Central Railway Station premises. He was a temporary worker assigned by a contractor, in the direction of the Railways. He disappeared while working in a 140-metre-long canal tunnel running beneath the station tracks.
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“Dismayed by the incompetence and irresponsibility of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation that resulted in the disappearance of a man, Joy of Marayamuttam, in Amayizhanchan Ditch,” Tharoor said on X (formerly Twitter). He added that Joy was “engaged in clearing debris that the City Corporation had allowed to pile up.”

Tharoor argued that humans should not be employed for such hazardous tasks when modern techniques are available to handle them. Calling for compensation for the victim's family, he stated, "Asking human beings to risk their lives in this way is inexcusable."
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Tharoor also condemned the initial response of Mayor Arya Rajendran and the Corporation authorities, who blamed the Railways and avoided taking responsibility incident. "If there was any non-cooperation from the Railways, it should have been promptly reported to the relevant central and state authorities and the people's representatives. The municipality's work has never been in such a slump,” Tharoor said.

He added that infectious diseases like cholera are rampant due to the lack of proper sanitation. “Inefficient city administration is the primary reason for the recurrence of such disasters,” the Congress leader said on X.