A few weeks before the rain and the consequent floods hit Kerala, the city Corporation had opened a temporary office in front of its main building to co-ordinate the various activities of the Killi River City Mission, aimed at cleaning up parts of the river flowing through the Corporation area. But, post the floods, the temporary set-up was transformed into the control room of the local body’s flood relief efforts, round the clock.
The Kill River Mission itself is now facing a huge challenge with the floods and rise in water level in the river making it difficult to take up the mission immediately. The first phase of the mission, which began back in May, was scheduled to be completed by August. Meetings at the higher levels and local level had begun in right earnest, but according to officials here, all the scheduled activities would have to be postponed.
“Though the floods did not affect the city much, many wards through which the river passes, like Kalady and Jagathy, were badly affected. The water level is still quite high, compared to when we started the mission. The streams that flow into the river are also swollen. Unless it goes down, we can’t get an idea of the septage and waste water outlets from the sides. We would have to wait a few weeks even to conduct the ‘Puzha Nadatham’ (River walk),” said a Corporation source.
The Corporation has been planning a large-scale awareness drive, targeted at the people residing near the river, aimed at the importance of protecting the river and to ensure their co-operation and support for the project.
Upstream, work on cleaning up a 22-km stretch of the river, beginning from Karinchathimoola, origin of the river in Panavoor panchayat, till Vazhayila bridge was taken up by the panchayats in those areas. The 31 canals and over 50 rivulets that flow into the river along this stretch are proposed to be cleaned.