Pazhayannur Temple pond: A death trap

KOCHI: The Devasom Board authorities of the Pazhayannur Temple, in Mattanchery, are yet to get the temple pond, used by both devotees and the public, cleaned as per the four-month old order from the High Court. Last week, another case of death was reported from the temple pond. According to the residents, the Devasom Board authorities are turning a blind eye to the order.According to the sources, the High Court had ordered an immediate cleaning of the pond used by the public as well as the inner pond used by the temple priests, after receiving the sanction from the archaeological department. The ponds have not been cleaned for past many years. However, the temple officials claim that receiving sanction from the archaeological department has become a tedious task. “The cleaning of the pond requires the sanction as it will include purifying the water and setting up the steps which will lead to the pond. We cannot do anything until we receive the sanction. We approached the state archaeological department four times, but the request has fallen on deaf ears,”  said Nibhish  M K, the temple executive engineer.Residents here say that the pond has not been cleaned properly for more than 10 years. “It is filled with filth underneath. Also, there are lot of slippery areas around the pond which will lead to many more deaths, if it is not cleaned soon,” said one of the sources.The High Court had issued a statement asking the temple authorities to clean the pond as it is located right in the heart of Mattanchery’s tourism destination.According to police, a 28-year-old youth drowned in the pond on last Thursday. “The young man must have come to the pond to take a bath but would have slipped off,” the police sources said. A Mattanchery resident S Jaleel said, ”There is a school right next to the temple. Small boys from there, use the temple pond daily to bath. It is very dangerous.”To make matters worse, the temple pond gate, which was built to keep people off limits, is broken.Residents also said that even the tourists use the pond for bathing.