River protection funds go down the drain

K.A. Shaji
Palakkad,  
The Hindu, June 10, 2015 

Environment groups have expressed concern over the diversion and lapse of funds worth Rs.100 crore meant for the protection of the Bharathapuzha.

The State government allocated the amount as river management fund during the start of the last financial year. The focus was on removing encroachments and recharging groundwater sources. The 209-km river is the lifeline of people in Palakkad, Thrissur, and Malappuram districts.

The fund was meant to facilitate the recharge of the river by protecting its embankments. Mapping the banks and afforesting the catchment area were the other plans. Sand auditing was also part of the initiative, sources said. “A large portion of the fund has already been diverted and no river protection measure was initiated. The rest of the amount remains unutilised,” P.S. Panicker of the Bharathapuzha Samrakshana Samiti, said.

A sizable portion of the fund was utilised to buying vehicles for squads deployed to check illegal sand-mining. The justification was that the government had not provided the squad with any vehicle, he said. “They have diverted about Rs.40 lakh to buy vehicles. The rest is remaining unutilised,” Dr. Panicker said.