Avoid areas near Ernakulam North and South railway stations during days of heavy downpour if you wish not to be caught in flooding.
Inundation at the two areas during monsoon has been troubling civic administrators as well as city residents for long despite efforts taken to clear the water logging.
The clogged drains through the railway yards prevented the flow of floodwater from the roads, leading to heavy water logging, said civic administrators.
Even though the local body had been cleaning the drains on either side of the railway tracks, it was not successful in clearing the clogged part of the canals on the railway premises, said Soumini Jain, chairperson of the works standing committee of the Kochi Corporation.
It was two years ago that the Railways cleaned the canals in the area. Though the local body had formally written to the Southern Railway asking them to take steps for ensuring smooth flow of water, they were yet to respond, she said. Attempts would be made to meet the area manager of the Southern Railway, she added.
Besides the two railway station areas, some of the low-lying areas in the city including Udaya Colony, Vattamakkal in West Kochi, St. Vincent Road, Cheralayi near Mattancherry, Perumpadappu-Kumbalanghi road, and LIG colony in Panampilly Nagar are also in the list of areas that are facing the threat of inundation.
Two mobile squads of the Engineering Wing of the local body will be activated in the coming days. They would be provided with motor pumps and workers to pump out water in areas which experience heavy flooding, she said.
The petti and para , locally developed devices for pumping out water, will be operated by local residents in some areas and by contractors in other areas. The device can be used to give an extra thrust to drain out floodwater. However, it would be of little use during high tide as water from the drains would not move to the backwaters during the period, she said.
The health wing of the local body was also planning to deploy workers in every division during the week to check for water logging and related issues, and clear them, said T.K. Ashraf, chairman of the health standing committee of the corporation.
