Thiruvananthapuram Corporation chalks out action plan to avert monsoon disasters

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ahead of monsoon, the city corporation has charted out an action plan to prevent flooding in the city and avoid the potential damages that can happen due to heavy rains.
As part of the order issued by the corporation, all the schools in the district have been asked to conduct an inspection on the present condition of their infrastructure within three days and recommend further actions to resolve the issues at engineering level. At the same time, the order also suggests the necessity of cutting down trees that could pose a threat to students and to the school buildings.
The authorities noted that as the schools were not functioning full-fledged for the past two years, no essential maintenance works were performed. Hence the schools must get a fitness certificate indicating that the structures are safe to occupy. At the same time, the school and its premises will be decontaminated under the leadership of health inspectors.
Apart from this, the civic authorities have also decided to take enough precautions in the city by assessing all the requirements and finding appropriate solutions in case of flooding and other potential calamities due to the upcoming monsoon rains. In order to ensure the safety of the general public, 1,700 such works have been identified and out of which 400 works have been completed so far.
The instructions by the city corporation include setting up a 24-hour control room in the district, precautions to avoid water logging, cutting down of trees that pose danger, identifying buildings which are in depilated condition, protection from waterborne and communicable diseases, monitoring school reopening preparations, coordination of departments, strengthening the disaster management cell, ambulance service and identifying the places to set up rehabilitation camps in case of any emergency.
The meeting presided over by mayor Arya Rajendran on the other day directed all departments to draft an action plan for the preliminary work to be done by each department and to implement it as soon as possible. The respective departments have been asked to identify flood-prone regions and take the required procedures to limit the impact. The health inspectors have been tasked with identifying such flood-prone areas and the drainages filled with mud and sand. A detailed action plan approved by the council will be implemented in such places.
“All the areas, including offices and houses, will be cleaned from May 21 to May 29. Around 90% of the major and minor irrigation works required at the canals, including Kariyil, Kuriyathi and Gangayaar, have been completed so far. At the same time, initiatives have been taken for closing the pits created for smart city projects in the areas with high traffic”, said an official from the mayor's office.
The medicines and other equipment required for the cleaning operation were procured and handed over to the field level officials concerned. Around Rs 2 crore have been spent for buying the required equipment. It has also ensured that all the required materials are available for the work.