Polluted by raw sewage and solid waste and effluents from hospitals and industries located along the banks, the Karamana river flowing through the capital city has been reduced to a carrier of filth and disease, reviled as an environmental and public health menace.

In a bid to restore the ravaged river and salvage its ecology, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has given shape to an integrated river basin management project focusing on curbing pollution and cleaning up a one- km downstream stretch.