ALAPPUZHA: The encroachments on the banks of Pillathode canal that passes through the heart of Haripad constituency have choked the flow of water making life miserable for the people. According to G. Radhakrishnan, a local resident and an environmentalist, "people are suffering due to the stench emanating from the stream due to the encroachments. Unless it is cleared at the earliest, the water body will become a breeding ground of epidemics," he said. The Haripad village officer had reported the encroachments on the banks of Pillathode on April 25 this year. The report called for an urgent survey to know whether the poromboke was encroached.
Karthikappally tahasildar S. Vijayan had found 2.4-metre encroachment in Pillathode poramboke sub-division that passes beside the land owned by Jiji Oommen, G. Cottage, Manatharayil, Haripad, opposite to the under-construction multiplex complex of Aashirvad Cinemas of M. J. Antony aka Antony Perumbavoor, aide of actor Mohanlal, along NH 66 near Madhava Junction, Haripad. The report was prepared by D.L. Sheenamol, taluk surveyor under the supervision of the tahasildar on July 27 on the orders of the then district collector Veena N. Madhavan based on a report published by Deccan Chronicle on July 20. However, no action has been against the law-breakers.
Haripad village officer Amod M. Das said that further action could not be taken as Mr Oommen submitted a petition rejecting the charge in the tahasildar's report. "We will issue a notice to restore the encroached land soon," he said. The survey report had given a clean chit to Ashirvad Cinemas after a resurvey was carried out in the plot on the basis of the complaint registered by Samskarika Samanwaya Vedi, a cultural outfit of local people. The report said, "no encroachment had occurred in the Ashirvad Cinemas land that connects Pillathode close to NH. However, illegal construction by Jiji Oommen was seen in the eastward portion of Pillathode. At least 2.4 metres of encroachment was identified in the north portion of land with survey number 286/2 and two metres in the southward portion. As the rest of Pillathode is covered with thickets, no more portion was surveyed," the report said.
The Pillathode, the oldest stream passing through Haripad, originates from eastern nada of Subhamanya Swamy temple, Haripad and flows through Karathikapally, Pallipad and Haripad villages. The tahasildar had told DC in August that the exact extent of encroachments on the bank of Pillathod can be determined only after conducting a survey in the entire area and that he had issued a notice to the municipality authorities for the purpose. However, no further steps have been taken on it.
