Royal Pond near Durbar Hall Ground left to stink

KOCHI: What was once a royal bathing pool is now a public garbage dumping site. The pond beside one of the most well-kept and frequented spots of Kochi, the Durbar Hall Ground, is said to be more than a hundred years old. Years of disuse and stagnation has now left the pond covered with weeds and waste dumped by people. It has become an eyesore for the visitors and nuisance for neighbours.“About twenty years back, the pool used to clean and could be used even for bathing. There used to be a ‘Kullipura’, a bathing shed, beside it. Over the years, it became lesser frequented and gradually, due to stagnation and lack of use, got covered with weeds. Now, waste from the Darbar Hall Ground is regularly dumped in front of it. Last monsoon, the whole fence in front of the pool collapsed owing to the weight of the garbage dumped over it. It is still lying unrepaired,” said Suresh Namboodiri, one of the members of the Tripunithara Royal Family and co-owners of the property.In the year 2002, the pool was temporarily restored with the funds released by the then tourism minister K V Thomas. The pond was given a quick revamp and was maintained till the funds kept flowing. However, after the  maintenance work was stopped, the pool was left again to neglect and dilapidation. The water from the pool is used to water the lawns at the Darbar Hall grounds but the pool does not seem to get any benefit out of it.“We have been working on a proposal to renovate the pool. The fence that separates the pool from the Durbar Hall Ground will be removed and then the pool can be maintained. We can even have some seats by it and develop it into a garden by the Durbar Hall Ground. One of the complications involved is that the government does not own the pool and it belongs to the Royal Family of Tripunithura. If they give the maintenance right to the government, then the proposal can be implemented,” said MLA Hibi Eden.Even though the proposal may seem to be a welcome change, the implementation might not be as easy as it sounds. The property belongs to a trust of the Royal Family of Tripunithura. “There must be around 200 members, of which many are based abroad and this makes any sort of transfer complicated. However, unless we have the permission from the trust, it will not be possible for us to prepare the project report,” said the DTPC secretary T N Jayashankar.