BJP to clean rivers in Kerala capital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ' Clean Ganga Campaign', BJP district unit here has launched a drive to cleanse three largely polluted rivers criss-crossing the state capital.

Under the campaign titled 'Clean the City, Cleanse the Rivers', BJP workers will take up the cleaning of Karamana, Killi rivers and Parvathy Puthanar canal, once considered to be the live nerves of the city but now largely been polluted due to the indiscriminate dumping of urban, sewage and bio-waste in several parts.

The campaign, planned as a mass movement, will be carried forward with the support of people from various walks of life including scientists, social and cultural leaders, activists, NGOs, residents associations and students besides party workers, BJP district president S Suresh said.

Though the three rivers had once played a crucial role in the life of city dwellers, including in transport, irrigation, cultural and religious areas, they have now become dumping yards of urban waste, he said.

"We have taken up the campaign drawing inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean Ganga Campaign and his ambitious Swachh Bharat drive," Suresh told PTI.

"At the national level, the cleaning of river Ganga is launched. Planning for the cleansing of river Yamuna is going on. So, we should also take steps to cleanse our state rivers and reclaim their past glory," he said.

Stating that the sub-standard sewage system and poor waste management were the main causes for the decline of these three rivers, he said industrial groups and flats and a large number of hospitals, including state-run medical college hospital, were dumping bio-waste into the water bodies.

Ward-level committees would be formed by the party to implement the campaign.

Expert panels comprising scientists, doctors and social and cultural leaders would also be formed, he said.

"We are planning to implement the campaign in a phased manner. Our volunteers with the support of local people will remove as much as waste as possible manually in every month. A series of awareness drives are also planned," he said.

Suresh said the party would seek support of the state government and civic authorities for the programme.