And Quiet Flows to Death have become the casualties of the river’s condition. The Karamana river, once the pride of Scientists feel that sand-mining from the upstream por- Thiruvanthapuram city, does not flow quiet anymore. tions has aggravated the pollution of the river by depriving It’s chaos on her banks, and the river does not flow freely the river of its natural filtering mechanism. They believe that anymore, and that is not just literally. A visit to the the pollution of the canal can be tackled only by addressing Thiruvallam region will tell why. the sewage contamination in the upstream areas. In 1997, The river starts near the southern tip of the Western Ghats the Legislative Committee on Environment had reported at Agastyar Koodam about 1600 m above the sea level. that the pollution caused by the release of raw sewage into The river flows 68 km westward and merges with the Ara- the Killi River near the Jagathy Bridge was at an `explo- bian Sea at Panathura near Kovalam. sive' level. The peaks of origin of the river are today known as The heavy pollution of the downstream stretches of the Chemmunji Motta and Aathiramala.The water is so pure Karamana river has created unsanitary conditions for devo- in these areas. But when it enters the city the problems tees visiting the Parasurama temple at Thiruvallam to pay start. The river in the city is facing serious problems of obeisance to their departed forefathers.The stagnant wa- pollution, acidification and fish kill in recent years. The causes ters and the accompanying stench at the bathing ghats near for the deterioration in the river's water quality include the the temple put off even the most determined devotee from discharge of untreated sewage and domestic and industrial taking the customary bath.In a bid to obviate the need for effluents into the river and the unregulated development of devotees to immerse themselves in the polluted water, the tourism in the river basin area. This has resulted in the low- Travancore Devaswom Board has installed showers at the ering of dissolved oxygen levels in the river's water and ghats. caused fish kill downstream of the river. Illegal mining of Local people are up in arms demanding governmental river sand is another significant threat being faced by the action to check the pollution of the river. They are joining river. hands with mass organisations to highlight the environmen- The much-chronicled pollution of the river has reached tal and health problems caused by the polluted waters. They a state where medical officials have been forced to post also fear that the unsanitary conditions would lead to a public posters on her banks, announcing to the people that the health crisis and affect the region’s nascent tourism indus- river’s waters are polluted. And then, warning them to try. keep their children away from bathing or swimming in The Karamana river, flowing through the city, joins the the river, going on to cautioning people against even Killi river at Pallathukadavu (upstream of Thiruvallam) and stepping into the river, because it was causing diseases wraps around the Edayar island on its way to the Poonthura including rat fever (leptospirosis) and jaundice. estuary. Both the rivers carry large quantities of raw sew- Recently, out of 150-odd children aged between five age discharged from city drains. The heavily polluted and 15, whose blood samples were collected for analy- Parvathy Puthanar canal joins the river at Munnattumukku sis, 18 tested positive for leptospirosis. near the Poonthura coastal village. Signs of a decadent system become evident when a The flow of water on the western side of the island is river, closely linked to the growth of not just nature, but blocked due to heavy silting at Munnattumukku and accre- music, culture, sports and livelihood of an entire city, tion of sea sand at Kunnumanall suddenly has a signboard asking people to keep away The mass death of fish reported from the Thiruvallam- from her. Pozhikara stretch of the river has triggered alarm among However, with the public being hard-pressed for wa- the people living along the banks. They fear that the pollut- ter, the warnings bore little impact. And the outcome ant responsible for the incident will contaminate their water sup- was that children, students of a swimming club here, ply.