Residents protest against accumulation of waste

KOCHI: The rising heaps of refuse across the length and breadth of Thrikkakara have led the residents of Kunnumpuram, a residential locality in the panchayat, to hold a dharna in front of the panchayat office on Monday. Recently, Kunnumpuram area was flooded with waste, washed down in heavy rain.

Though the panchayat was forced to clear the debris, residents feel that the authorities have not done anything lasting to resolve the issue of dumping of waste at a location close to the panchayat office itself.

Secretary of Thrikkakara Residents Associations Apex Council Salim Kunnumpuram said that the practice of dumping waste behind the panchayat office has continued for too long. The waste is often washed down the hill to the Kunnumpuram area, he said.

Panchayat president Sabitha Kareem alleged that the recent incident in which large quantities of waste were washed into residential areas might be a deliberate act by somebody. She said that the breach through which the waste was washed down had been barricaded with strong iron grill, which would not have given away even in heavy rain.