KOCHI: The waste issue at Cheranellore panchayat on the northern outskirts of the city has taken an ugly turn with ruling Congress and Opposition CPM trading fisticuffs while claiming credit for finding partial solution to the waste management mess that the civic body was steeped in. While the panchayat president Sony Chikku belongs to Congress, the health standing committee chairperson K.P. Sheeba belongs to CPM.
After the Kochi Corporation decided to pick waste from the panchayat at the beginning of this month, waste in 100 houses each in 17 wards of started moving to Brahmapuram plant. However there are over 350 houses left in each ward and more importantly the waste accumulated over the streets and roads are going up day after day with no mechanism to segregate and collect and take them to Brahmapuram.
Meanwhile flexes started mushrooming in the panchayat erected by both parties claiming credit for finding a “solution” to the waste menace. The Congressmen congratulated the panchayat president and Hibi Eden MLA while CPM congratulated Sheeba for the so called success. Now CPM activists allege that the panchayat president manhandled Sheeba the other day for claiming credit for finding ‘solution’ and even threatened that she will not be allowed inside the panchayat committee meeting unless she gave a convincing answer.
In protest against this, the Democratic Women’s Association, an outfit of the CPM, has planned a women’s dharn on Monday. While Sony Chikku was unavailable for comments, panchayat vice-president C.K. Raju said that the president did not misbehave with Sheeba.
