Low lying areas in Thiruvananthapuram city were inundated following heavy rains that lashed the district for several hours on Saturday night. Though the rains ceased in the wee hours of Sunday, flood water took time to recede from some areas including in Mukkolakkal, Attakulangara, Kazhakuttam and Ulloor.
At Kadakampally Road near Anayara, over a hundred families faced difficulties for a good part of the day as storm water flooded the entire stretch. Local Residents attributed the situation to the widening of the Kazhakuttom-Karode National Highway bypass. They alleged that improper alignment of stormwater drains and disruption of natural watercourses had caused recurrent flooding in the neighbourhood.
According to a resident, several petitions to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, were of no avail. The heavy inundation caused by overnight rains almost cut the residential area from the rest of the capital city. At Ulloor, Kumarapuram too, flood water was slow to recede from some of the stretches.
The slow pace of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s pre-monsoon cleaning activities has led to overflowing drains in some areas. The ongoing Smart City-related underground duct works in some major roads near Vazhuthacaud and Thycaud have also compounded the woes of the city residents.
However, areas like Murinjapalam which witnessed flooding in the unseasonal rains last year did not witness any waterlogging as the desilting and widening works of the Pattom canal seems to have paid off. Waterlogging was reported from some areas near Gowreesapattom.
Minor landslides have been reported from the North Cliff area of Varkala, a popular tourist destination, over the past couple of days. Last year, a portion of the pathway on the top of the cliff had caved in. Tourism activities in the high ranges of Ponmudi and in the coastal areas have been banned for the time being as more rain is expected in the coming days.
