Thiruvananthapuram, March 7 : A political row has erupted over waste management in the aftermath of the Attukal Pongala, with Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Saturday asserting that the state government would step in wherever necessary, even as the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation faces criticism over the slow pace of post-festival cleaning.

It was on Tuesday the famed pongala festival attached to the Attukal Temple in the state capital city took place where an estimated four million women from the state and outside took part.

The main ritual during the festival is when these women cook dishes sitting on either side of the roads in a 10 sq km radius of the temple.

Incidentally, the reason for the controversy is this is the first time in the history of the state capital city that the BJP is ruling the Corporation after ousting the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front that ruled for the past more than four decades.

Responding to the controversy, Sivankutty said the government stood above the Corporation and had the responsibility to intervene in matters affecting the public.

His remarks came amid sharp criticism from the Mayor V. V. Rajesh, a senior BJP leader who had earlier said the Minister should confine himself to his own department.

The exchange has escalated into a fresh confrontation between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the handling of waste generated during the festival, which draws millions of women devotees to the capital city every year.

Sivankutty said he had directed officials to examine complaints that garbage remained uncleared in several areas days after the festival.

"I received phone calls from people raising concerns and also saw reports in the media. The government has a responsibility to ensure that necessary work is carried out. There is no need to create a dispute over that," he said.

He added that the government was aware of the issues in which it should intervene and would act accordingly.

At the same time, the Minister said it should also be examined whether there had been any deliberate attempt to shift the blame onto the government.

The issue has also sparked protests on the ground.

Activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India staged a march to the Attukal councilor's office demanding immediate removal of waste from several parts of the city.

The youth organisation warned that if garbage was not cleared from interior roads and areas around the temple, its activists would step in to carry out the cleaning themselves.

However, the Corporation has dismissed the criticism, accusing the CPI(M) of attempting to politicise the issue and claiming that the cleaning operations were progressing in phases.

The continuing exchange has turned the post-Pongala sanitation drive into a political flashpoint in the capital.

/IANS