Though the Corporation was certain that the failure of the Centre was the main reason for the recent flooding in the capital, a meeting headed by District Collector Geromic George on Wednesday concluded that there would be no permanent solution to waterlogging in the capital without removing the garbage and silt accumulated from the water bodies.
While instructing the officials concerned to complete all related works immediately to prevent recurrent waterlogging in the city, the District Collector directed the officials to take urgent measures to remove the mud and silt accumulated in Amayizhanchan Thodu, Pattom Thodu and Ulloor Thodu to ensure the smooth flow of water. In the recent waterlogging, Thiruvananthapuram city received 150 mm of rain in 24 hours, resulting in inundation of low-lying areas. It is after 40 years that the city received such heavy rainfall twice in a year.
Kadakampally Surendran, MLA, informed the meeting that the State government has earmarked ₹37 crore for the removal of silt from Amayizhanchan Thodu and related construction works. An expert team of Barton Hill Government Engineering College has suggested that the reason for the waterlogging in Goureesapattom area was not due to the construction of Nellikuzhi bridge. A specially designed bridge is coming up in Nellikuzhi to facilitate the flow of Amayizhanchan Thodu. The construction of the bridge will be completed by December 15 and the girders will be removed, informed the meeting.
Drains and water bodies will be cleaned urgently to avoid waterlogging again in the city during heavy rains. Dumping of removed sludge and waste is not allowed on the banks of water bodies. For this purpose, special dumping yards have been identified and the Collector instructed the officials to shift the mud and garbage there. It has been decided to clean the drains on all 81 roads in the city that are part of Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) and Smart City projects. The Collector also directed to complete the repair of the roads damaged due to rain immediately.
A 100-day action plan for deepening and removing 1.50 lakh cubic meters of silt from Pattom, Ulloor and Amayizhanchan canals will be completed in time. The works under the supervision of Major and Minor Irrigation departments are targeted to be completed by January 31 next year. The Collector also informed that a review meeting of the officials concerned will be held every week to assess the progress of the construction works. He added that a silt pusher machine purchased by the Water Resources department to clean the water bodies will be brought to the city and the construction work will be speeded up.
