The city of Kochi was deluged on Monday when skies opened up during an active spell of monsoon. The heavy rain that lashed the city in the morning hours threw life out of gear.
With the civic administration failing to tackle the situation, life became miserable for pedestrians, residents, motorists and traders right from the start of the day. Despite meteorologists predicting good showers this season, the civic body could not complete pre-monsoon and flood control measures, it was alleged.
Water from overflowing drains entered households in some areas, bringing with it filth, stinking refuse and even snakes.
The Corporation’s emergency flood management system collapsed. The squads formed by the works standing committee to attend to flooding in the city areas proved helpless. The mobile phones of squad members were flooded with calls from distressed city dwellers. The worst hit areas in the city included T.D. Road, areas near the KSRTC bus stand, Ernakulam Junction railway station, Kathrikadavu, Karukappadam, Deshabhimani Road, M.G. Road, Banerjee Road, Broadway, Judges Avenue, Edappally Toll, Gandhi Square, Statue Junction, AD Puram and South Moolamkuzhy.
Some of the civic administrators admitted that the delay in completing pre-monsoon cleaning and de-silting of major canals resulted in the unprecedented flooding.
The Corporation could not initiate the cleaning of the Thevara-Perandoor Canal, which runs through the city this season. It is the biggest canal that helps drain floodwater to the backwaters. The technical delays in completing the tender processing of the work was one of the important reasons for flooding, said a chairperson of a standing committee, who did not wish to be named.
Residents’ protest
Angry residents of some of the colonies came out in protest as filthy water from the drains and canals entered their houses located on the banks of the canals. Residents of P and T Colony, Kammattipadam and Karithala Colony in Gandhi Nagar were hit hard.
Reports of pedestrians falling after accidentally stepping into overflowing drains were reported from places such as Edappally Toll bus stop. Shops at Broadway and V.P. Marakkar Road at Edappally, educational institutions such as SRV School and residential colonies in places like Pulleppady were among the worst affected due to waterlogging.
Poornima Narayan, LDF councillor and chairperson of the education standing committee of the Corporation, who represents Gandhi Nagar area, blamed the lethargic approach of the civic body for the misery of people. Last year, the Thevara-Perandoor canal was cleaned during the first week of May. “This year, even the paper work for the job has not been completed though the monsoon has set in,” she said. However, the civic administration went on an overdrive to clean some segments of the canal, which bordered the divisions of some select councillors, added Ms. Narayan.
P.M. Harris, chairman of the works standing committee, who admitted that an unprecedented situation was prevailing in the city following the flooding, said the civic body had convened a meeting of various government departments to clean up canals and drains in their respective areas. The agencies could not complete the work on time, which resulted in the flooding, he said. The civic body was coordinating with legislators and officials to tackle the situation.
When asked whether the district administration planned to intervene, Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla said the maintenance of the drainage network was the responsibility of local bodies concerned. “We will keep an eye on the situation and will intervene only if the situation so warrants,” he said.