Thiruvananthapuram: A row erupted in the assembly on Monday after the opposition alleged that police had used contaminated water in water cannons against protesters during the AISF and AIYF march to the assembly against the PM SHRI scheme.Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan raised the issue in the House, carrying a bottle purportedly containing the water used during the police action. He said the matter was serious, particularly at a time when the state was witnessing the spread of communicable diseases, and demanded a response from home minister Ramesh Chennithala.Vijayan alleged that the water used in the water cannon could cause serious diseases and urged the govt to treat the issue with seriousness. He sought a clarification from the home minister on how such water came to be used against protesters.Responding to the charge, Chennithala said the use of water cannons was not a new practice in the state and rejected suggestions that contaminated water was used deliberately. He said the water had been sourced from the Kerala Water Authority, though it could have been drawn from an old tanker.The minister said there had been no intentional use of polluted water and assured the House that the matter would be investigated. He stated that instructions had been given to the police commissioner to have the water tested in a laboratory and that a detailed examination would be conducted.CPI’s K Rajan, who inaugurated the AISF-AIYF march, alleged that the water sprayed by police was so dirty that it had even caused discolouration of the clothes worn by women protesters. He said the protesters were not afraid of water cannons or police firing but questioned the alleged use of contaminated water against demonstrators.Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan also intervened in the discussion, remarking that he too had faced water-cannon action in the past. He suggested that the assembly could take up the issue further after the laboratory test results were available.
