T’puram: A report submitted by district administration contradicted city corporation’s claim that the city was cleaned immediately after the annual Attukal Pongala festival.According to the report prepared by district collector Anu Kumari on Friday, the post-festival cleaning operations took nearly three days to complete, and garbage in and around the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple premises was not fully removed even after that period. The Pongala festival was held on March 3. Soon after the event, mayor V V Rajesh claimed that the city was completely cleaned the same night. However, the collector’s report pointed out that waste remained in several parts of the temple surroundings and other locations in the festival zone. The collector personally visited the festival area before preparing and submitting the report to the state govt. The report also noted that temple authorities informed officials that the cleaning of the temple premises would be completed within two days. Concerns over heaps of waste remaining in various parts of the city after the festival were raised earlier by residents. The LDF parliamentary party in corporation also lodged a complaint with the state govt, including CM Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking urgent intervention to address the issue, as it posed a potential public health threat. Following the complaints, general education minister V Sivankutty directed the district administration to examine whether there were lapses in the sanitation work. The collector’s report was prepared as part of that inquiry and has now come to light.Responding to the controversy, the NDA-led corporation said the city was cleaned within the stipulated time and alleged that the accusations were politically motivated in view of the upcoming elections. However, the collector’s findings contradicted the corporation’s claim.
