Kollam: Left neglected for more than three and a half decades, an abandoned stretch of the Kallada Irrigation Project (KIP) canal in Kadathoor ward of KS Puram panchayat has turned into a grave threat to the lives and property of local residents. The canal bed sits nearly three feet lower than the surrounding residential plots.

During the monsoon, the canal’s earthen banks cave in, eating away at adjacent properties. The rampant erosion has destabilized protective embankments, causing the boundary walls of several nearby houses to crumble.

With no other access routes in the area, residents are forced to navigate the precarious canal bund, making even walking a daily hazard. To make matters worse, domestic animals and livestock frequently slip into the trench and perish, dealing a severe blow to the livelihoods of local families.

Overgrown with wild brush, the canal, which originates from Kallada, has also become a corridor for wild animals such as porcupines, pythons, civet cats and jungle cats to stray into residential neighborhoods. Furthermore, the neglected trench has turned into an illegal dumping ground for septic waste and animal carcasses, triggering a pervasive stench and an alarming mosquito menace.

Residents allege that despite routine provisions and approvals for annual desilting and maintenance, neither the panchayat nor the irrigation department authorities have bothered to inspect the area for years, let alone take steps to reinforce the deteriorating canal walls.