The Palakkad Municipality is all set to tackle the monsoon, with the capacity of canals that drain rainwater into rivers having been enhanced.
All the five major canals within the municipal limits have been deepened and widened. According to the engineering wing of the civic body, the capacity of the canals has been stepped up by 100%.
Work on the 2.3-km stretch of the Kallepulli-Sanghuvarathodu canal is nearing completion. The project costs ₹3.66 crore. Silting and constriction of the water body had caused flooding in the last couple of years.
The canal with an average width of nine metres was widened to 16 metres. “It was a major work. We widened, deepened, desilted, and removed several obstructions from the canal,” said assistant executive engineer N. Swamidas. An abandoned irrigation barrage on the canal was demolished as part of its widening.
Meanwhile, 50% of work on other canals has been completed. “We lost precious two months because of the lockdown. Still, we did our best,” the official said.
The 3-km-long Manappullikkavu-Thirunellai canal, which drains into the Thirunellai river, was deepened at a cost of ₹2.5 crore. The 1.5-km-long Kaluvakulam-Anachira canal, which flows into the Kalpathy river, too was desilted and widened at a cost of ₹2 crore. As much as ₹1.5 crore was spent for widening Karukodi canal and ₹2.5 crore for Noorani-Kallikkad canal.
Although deepening and widening were carried out in all canals, the construction of side walls is pending. “We have to wait till the monsoon is over to take up side wall construction,” said Mr. Swamidas.
He said that the town would not experience any more flooding even if it rained heavily. “However, we cannot say anything about the kind of floods that we witnessed in the last two years,” municipal officials said.
All major drains connected to the canals too have been widened and desilted. The drains are on major roads such as Robinson Road, Court Road, GB Road, College Road, and Tirunellai-Kallikkad Road and Melamuri and Sakunthala Junction.
According to officials, 80% of drainage work is over. An amount of ₹30 crore had been earmarked for drainage clearing as part of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. The municipality has received ₹110 crore for implementing projects under the scheme.