The tragic drowning of 42-year-old sanitation worker Joy in the Amayizhanjan Thodu (canal) near the Thiruvananthapuram Central Station highlights the city’s dismal management of its water bodies, its crumbling waste disposal processes, and the callous disregard for worker safety. This incident is a culmination of years of neglect, bureaucratic inaction, and a lack of civic sense and social responsibility.
Mounting waste, blocked tunnel, frenzied floods: A deadly combination
The canal, which runs through the heart of Thiruvananthapuram, including under the city’s Central Railway Station at Thampanoor, is a crucial waterway. The 2021 Flood Report by the Irrigation Department notes that this is the only flood water drainage system in the Thampanoor area. The report identified the blockage of the tunnel passing under the Central Railway Station as the primary cause of flooding in the area. It recommended constructing a new tunnel through the railway compound and emphasised the need for ‘day-to-day’ cleaning of the canal to prevent flooding.
Despite these warnings, necessary actions were never taken. The cleaning of the canal, usually undertaken as a pre-monsoon activity, was always shabby and ineffective. Moreover, fresh drainage into the canal always resulted in massive quantities of waste, and clogged the canal. The floods in the Thampanoor area continue to be a recurring unsolved issue.
An indifferent Railways and a lax Corporation
On the fateful day, Joy and his fellow workers were contracted by Southern Railways to clear the accumulated waste and debris from the canal. This job was particularly hazardous, involving manual scavenging, as the waste contained human waste and sanitary disposals. The heavy rains had increased the water flow, bringing more waste from upstream.
After Joy was swept away by the strong currents, it took nearly three days of rescue efforts, hampered by the volume of waste clogging the waterway. The tough job had to be done not only by Corporation employees but by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Fire and Rescue teams, and some volunteers. It was painful to see the rescue teams in these dirty waters searching desperately for Joy. After 46 hours of search, he was found a kilometre away in the canal, his body heavy and bloated.
Meanwhile, the blame game had begun. The Corporation blamed the Railways, as the tunnel was situated below the station, saying they should have cleaned what is underneath it. They even released letters sent to the Railways in May 2024, demanding cleaning. The District Collector had also ordered the Railways to clean the tunnel in May, but the Railways took no action until the rains had already filled up the canal with water and debris. This indifference from the Railway authorities is definitely one of criminal negligence. Additionally, they asked untrained and inadequately protected workers to clean up the worst of the filthy waters. This is also a clear case of human rights violation. Incidentally, the State Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance and issued notices to the District Collector and municipal corporation secretary on the matter.
The City Corporation council, led by the young Mayor Arya Rajendran, cannot also absolve themselves of the crime. Legally, the management of waste is entrusted to them through the Kerala Municipality Act of 1994 and various amendments. The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, also places responsibilities on them. The Corporation’s narrative that they weren’t responsible does not hold.
The amount of waste seen on the northern side of the canal near the main road even during this incident was as massive as that found on the railway side, where the incident happened. A grill separates the flow from the north to the south, so as to filter out the solid waste from going into the narrow tunnel, but it was evident that the mesh was ineffective with waste flowing out into the tunnel from underneath the grill.
The Corporation is also well aware that illegal dumping of waste into canals and streams continues unabated, and such violations are not caught. In some areas, illegal dumping by households and establishments is rampant. The huge amount of bloating plastic bags filled with waste as well as floating thermocol proves that the decentralised waste management system in many areas is either non-existent or ineffective. The Mayor and the Corporation council have to own up responsibility for this failure, which led to the gruesome incident.
Failing waste management: A cautionary tale
The Amayizhanjan canal incident is a symptom of a larger problem in Thiruvananthapuram’s waste management system. Once a model city for waste management, Kerala’s capital has seen a worrying regression under the new Corporation leadership.
After the closure of the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant in 2011, due to public protests the Corporation was forced to rethink its approach. Under the previous Mayor, VK Prasanth, the city shifted towards decentralised waste management. This involved a massive exercise of awareness building, encouraging community responsibility, and introducing systems like aerobic bins, community biogas, kitchen bins, Resource Recovery Facilities, and Material Collection Facilities. The success was evident, with less waste on the roads and more people adopting the new initiatives. Prasanth also mobilised a large number of young volunteers, the Green Army, to enable delegation of activities.
However, after Prasanth left to take charge as MLA and a new council was elected in 2020, the Corporation regressed on these efforts. The Green Army volunteers were discouraged and disappeared over time. The Corporation stopped providing technical support and inoculum for composting, leading many residents to abandon the initiative. While the Corporation’s efforts to clear major waste dumps in the city were commendable, the recent spate of illegal dumping and failure to maintain infrastructure have undone much of that progress.
The current Mayor seems to lack understanding of the paradigm or processes required to build a decentralised, zero-waste management system. This failure and the unfortunate drowning could push the city back towards a centralised waste management model, which has provenly had no success stories in Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram cannot afford another costly failed experiment like Vilappilsala or Brahmapuram.
Illegal scavenging: A dehumanising practice
Joy’s tragic death highlights the unethical and illegal use of human labour for scavenging work. Despite the availability of advanced technologies like Bandicoot robots, the Corporation and Railways continue to rely on cheap, temporary labour to clear canals and drainage pits. While the current case may not fall under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, it is time that such scavenging using human and ‘hazardous cleaning’ operations without proper protective gear is also banned.
This practice not only endangers workers’ lives but also perpetuates a dehumanising system that exploits the most vulnerable. It is shameful that Kerala, known for its human development and egalitarian claims, is involved in such callous acts, undermining its rhetoric of being a progressive knowledge economy.
The way forward: Towards clean waters, zero waste, and responsible governance and citizenry
The unfortunate drowning in the Amayizhanjan canal is a wake-up call for the city’s civic authorities. The incident highlights the systemic issues plaguing the city’s water bodies and waste management system, as well as the need to prioritise the safety and well-being of sanitation workers.
The Corporation council must urgently address these problems. Firstly, they should revive efforts towards a truly decentralised waste management model, with a renewed focus on at-source segregation, household and community level treatment of organic waste, organised collection of all other waste streams, community engagement, and technical support for the same. They should also strictly enforce laws to prevent waste dumping in open areas, drains, and water bodies, with heavy penalties for violations.
Secondly, Project Anantha, which aimed to make Thiruvananthapuram flood-proof, must be revived and completed as a top priority. The Irrigation Department’s recommendations from the 2021 flood report, including the construction of a new tunnel under the Central Railway Station, should be implemented without delay to ensure the smooth flow of water through the Amayizhanjan canal. Continuous monitoring and maintenance of the city’s waterways should also be a priority.
Equally important is the need to address the safety and dignity of sanitation workers. All agencies involved must take immediate steps to provide proper training, equipment, and supervision for these workers. They should also explore the use of advanced technologies like the Bandicoot robots to minimise the need for manual scavenging.
If this mishap has in any manner made us deeply feel the cry of the mother for her lost son, or the enormous piles of waste covering our water bodies, or even the risk and pain that our rescue team had to endure during the two-day search, perhaps we have a good chance of waking up to the reality that the No 1 Kerala is a long way off. Each time we avoid such tragic deaths, we move one step ahead in achieving this goal.
Sridhar Radhakrishnan is an engineer, environmentalist, and an observer on development and policy related to the environment, agriculture, and climate.
Views expressed are the author’s own.