No situation of a cholera outbreak exists in Thiruvananthapuram city, Gayathri Babu, chairperson of city Corporation’s health standing committee, told a council meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday (April 29, 2025). She was responding to concerns raised by Kowdiar ward councillor S. Santhikumari, following the death of a 63-year-old resident of the ward due to cholera last week.
“As soon as the case was reported, we got in touch with the hospital as well as the district medical officer. It was learnt that the person developed fever and other symptoms while he was on the way from Kollam to Thiruvananthapuram. Cholera was confirmed in tests conducted after his death. There is no reason for fear-mongering over this as no such situation of an outbreak exists in the city. Still, the Corporation’s health wing had cleaned up the area considering the possibility of water-borne diseases,” she said.
Regarding Ms. Santhikumari’s allegations that the water samples from the wells in the area were not collected, Ms. Babu said that the civic body cannot take up the responsibilities of other departments.
Closed in 2013
Mayor Arya Rajendran said that the modern slaughterhouse in Kunnukuzhy will be inaugurated soon as part of the State government’s fourth anniversary celebrations. The civil works are in the final phase. The Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company Limited (KEL) is the implementing agency for the project. The old slaughterhouse at the same location was closed in February 2013 as it failed to manage the waste generated in a scientific way in the absence of a centralised waste treatment plant.
Many of the councillors raised concerns about pending road works as well as lack of streetlights in their wards. With the local body elections a few months away, the councillors also appeared to be under pressure to show results of their efforts in the respective wards.
Raised criticism
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor V.G. Girikumar raised a criticism over V.K. Prasanth, MLA, convening meetings regarding pre-monsoon cleaning activities in the Vattiyurkavu ward. The health standing committee chairperson said that as the head of the monitoring committee for the constituency, he was within his rights to convene a meeting to coordinate the activities of the various departments.
Regarding the BJP’s criticism over the councillors not getting invitation to participate in the Vruthi National conclave on waste management organised by the State government in the capital, Ms. Babu said that the Mayor had raised the issue with the Minister for Local Self Governments. It is understood that there was a lapse on the part of the officials, she said.
Published – April 29, 2025 09:02 pm IST
