Kerala High Court seeks report on Aamayizhanjan canal waste crisis after sanitation worker’s tragic death

The Kerala High Court has decided to examine the waste crisis in the Aamayizhanjan thodu (canal), which runs near the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station, following the tragic death of a sanitation worker who was tasked with cleaning the canal [Suo Motu v State of Kerala & ors]..The sanitation worker, identified as a man named Joy, was reported missing on Saturday. His dead body was only recovered on Monday morning, as waste accumulated in the canal made rescue operations difficult. The incident sparked a blame game over which authority (Corporation or Railways authorities) was responsible for waste mismanagement at the canal. On Monday, a Bench of Justices Bechu Kurian Thomas and Gopinath P convened a special sitting and ordered the Railways, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, and the District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram to submit detailed reports on the issue. These reports are to deal with the flow of plastic waste into the Aamayizhanjan thodu, the methods of removal of such waste, and those who are responsible for these tasks. The report is to be submitted by July 26. Additionally, the Court directed the authorities to outline their plans for clearing the legacy waste within and outside Railway propertyThe Bench also appointed an amicus curiae to assist the Court in examining the issue. The amicus has been ordered to inspect the canal and other areas of interest where waste is found to be accumulated..The order was passed as part of a case initiated by the Court in 2023 to monitor waste disposal in Kochi. The Railways ministry has now been impleaded in the matter, in view of the Court's decision to examine the Amayizhanjan canal incident. The Court also expressed a note of anguish over the sanitation worker's tragic death."The special sitting was set only because of a certain news witnessed by people of Kerala regarding an unfortunate incident that occurred while cleaning the drains in the Amayizhanjan canal, allegedly owned by the irrigation department and passing under the Trivandrum Central Railway Station," the Court said..The deceased sanitation worker (Joy) and two others had been engaged by the Railways to clean a portion of the canal stretch underneath the railway station, which was blocked by huge amounts of plastic waste and debris due to heavy rains.Unfortunately, the worker was swept off by the heavy rains, during the cleaning process and went missing on Saturday (July 13).Rescue operations were initiated by the National Disaster Response Force personnel. Deep divers were also deployed from the Navy to search for him, but they failed to find Joy due to garbage that had piled up and filled the tunnel.After around 46 hours, Joy's dead body was found on Monday morning by some corporation sanitation workers..On Monday, Senior counsel TC Krishna, representing the Railways, told the Court that the sheer volume of plastic waste in the canal made it difficult to filter debris from water bodies in the tunnel. Such waste had piled up due to the city corporation's failure to curb unregulated dumping of plastic waste, the Railways' counsel added.A video of waste being dumped near the Veli railway station was also showed to the Court.The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's counsel countered that the corporation had specifically requested the Railways to clear waste accumulated in the canal and on Railways property, via letters dated May 17 and June 19.Special Government Pleader C Unnikrishnan, meanwhile, submitted that the Kerala government had convened a meeting with the Railways to highlight the need to review existing waste collection contracts and to prevent illegal dumping.The Court also took note of submissions that the State had carried out an operation dubbed Operation Ananda between 2016 and 2020 to clear waste in the Amayizhanjan canal and prevent flooding in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. The Court has said that the amicus appointed by it to assist in this case may interact with those who carried out this project, to find out measures to tackle the waste crisis. The fee for the amicus' services is to be jointly paid by the Railways, the Corporation authorities and the State government, the Court added. .[Read Order]