Political parties are being compelled to take note of the environmental issues in the area. Though the general approach of political parties towards ecological issues is very negative, certain issues like chemical pollution in the Eloor Edayar industrial belt, contamination of river Periyar, sand mining, polluting the backwaters by dumping garbage , the hazardous fuel storage tanks at Vathuruthy and the controversy over the solid waste treatment plant have made an impact on the prospects of various political parties in the election.

In Ernakulam, along with the issues like civic issues and secularism, developmental and ecological issues have also figured.

Many green organisations have demanded that political parties should declare their policy on various environmental issues. Eco-outfits like Kerala River Protection Council, Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Narmada Solidarity Council have alleged that successive governments had failed to prevent the indiscriminate industrial pollution of the Periyar River.

The organisations had asked the candidates of various political parties to explain what steps they have taken for the regeneration of the river. The activists have also distributed a 10 point leaflet explaining the failure of the legislators.

It may be recalled that several activists and environmentalists had strongly objected against the allegedly lopsided developmental policy of the UDF Government. "Eco issues, as the manifestoes of the leading political parties indicate, are a non- issue in the State. We demand that the elected peoples' representatives should emphasise on ending abuse of backwaters, massive wetland reclamation, unrestrained chemical pollution by industrial units and the regeneration of highly polluted river Periyar", says Purushan Eloor of Periyar Malineekaran Virudha Samithy.

The Local Area Environment Committee for the Eloor Edayar region appointed by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on hazardous waste had found that the region is severely contaminated with hazardous materials and toxic metals. The SCMC had sharply criticised the State Government and its Pollution Control Board for the lapses in setting up a common Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) plant at Ambalamugal.

Apart from the industrial pollution and the protection of Periyar, other environmental issues like the fuel tanks at Vathuruthy near Willington Island and the proposed solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram have also figured as election planks in Ernakulam.

Though these issues are under the jurisdiction of the Corporation, voters have strong objections about the apathetic attitude of the legislators. Several experts had objections against the fuel tanks, which are violating environmental norms and threatening the lives of the residents of Vathuruthy. Residents of Brahmapuram and several experts have questioned the feasibility of a centralised solid waste treatment plant. During the fiery campaign the Left Front alleged that the UDF legislators had failed on environmental issues.