It's time to act: CM Pinarayi Vijayan on weak monsoon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that state might be heading for a drought harsher than it witnessed two months ago. Inaugurating the seminar on ‘Smart city and Light Metro: Highlights of Ananthapuri’ organized by Federation of Residents Association Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT), chief minister said that it was time to act.
Though FRAT organized the seminar as part of its 23rd annual conference to discuss development issues of city, Chief Minister said that it is important to discuss way to tide over the crisis in front of us than discussing about any development project.The CM also sought co-operation of FRAT, which has over 1000 residents associations under it.
“All houses that have wells must do well recharging. This can be done by diverting rainwater in individual plots to the wells. Rainwater harvesting pits must be dug up at all possible locations. Haritha Keralam is actively doing the rainwater harvesting projects,” he said.
“Now we use treated drinking water for all activities, including irrigation. No developed countries do this. They use treated water only for drinking,” he said.
CM also said that a centralized treatment plant is necessary in addition to decentralized treatment methods. “We have some bad experiences about centralized treatment plants. However, we need to operate both methods effectively,” Vijayan said.
CM said that water supply is a major component of Smart City project. On light metro, CM said that the state was waiting for the consent from Union Government. “In the meantime, we are doing preliminary works such as construction of flyovers at Sreekaryam, Ulloor and Pattom and widening of roads,” the chief minister said.
Adding to the statement of CM that a centralized waste management plant is needed, Mayor V K Prasanth said that around 450 tonnes of waste was taken to Vilappilsala earlier. “Now they non –treated waste is only around 100 tonnes. The CM has stressed on need for both decentralized and centralized treatment facility,” Prasanth said.
A seminar to discuss Smart city and light metro project was held after the inaugural function.