A large number of people living in Muttathara and Sreevarahom wards on Monday blocked the Kazhakuttam-Kovalam bypass in protest against the delay in laying sewers in their area.
The residents, who sat on a dharna at the Kallammoodu junction, raised slogans against the government and the Kerala Water Authority for their failure to keep a promise to provide proper sewerage connectivity in these wards.
Sreevarahom ward councillor S. Vijayakumar said the government had promised to provide sewerage connectivity to all houses when the sewage treatment plant (STP) was set up Muttathara.
He said almost a year had gone by since the plant was established, but the sewerage system remained a distant dream.
Ramesh, a resident, said that when the STP was proposed at Muttathara, the people had opposed it as they felt that sewage from the rest of the city would be transported to their area even as their locality lacked a proper sewerage system.
The KWA, he said, had then promised to lay sewers in a phased manner but it had not been done till now.
ADM’s promiseThe residents withdrew the protest after Additional District Magistrate (ADM) V.R. Vinod reached the spot and promised to address their grievance on a priority basis.
Mr. Vinod promised to invite tenders to shortlist the contractor for the construction work within 15 days.
A senior official in the sewage wing of the KWA told The Hindu that the process to float tenders had started. Tenders had been invited four times to lay the sewers at Muttathara, Perunthanni, and Sreevarahom, but not a single bidder evinced interest in the work.
A sum of Rs.10 crore had been sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for laying the sewers, he said.
