The second spell of monsoon that has brought rain over Kerala affected city life on Wednesday. The day witnessed heavy downpour during the morning hours and it rained for nearly three hours unceasingly. The heavy rain slowed down the pace of city life as vehicles had to move cautiously through the roads.
Many parts of the city witnessed water logging. The functioning of the Kerala State Road Transport Department was partly affected as the ground floor of the building was flooded. MG Road, KSN Menon Road, Karshaka Road, Karikkamuri, Ernakulam market and St. Dominic Road were also flooded.
Flood water entered some of the houses located in the low lying areas of KSN Menon Road. The service of the flood control squad and the Health wing had to be utilised for pumping out the flood water from the area, said Soumini Jain, chairperson of the Development Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation. The service of the squad was also utilised for clearing the water in areas adjoining SRV School. Water logging was also reported in many parts of West Kochi.
The two petti and para (the indigenously developed mechanism for draining floodwater) systems owned by the Kochi Corporation are non-functional as they have developed technical snags. The contractor, who is in charge of the system, would be issued an ultimatum for rectifying them. He would be summoned to the Kochi Corporation office on Thursday in this regard, said Ms. Jain.
If the system could not be rectified without delay, the civic authorities would have to seek alternatives for dealing with the situation. The corporation had also decided to obtain more pump sets for pumping out flood water. Pumps were found effective in handling flood this season, she said.
Heavy rainfall was reported also from Aluva where 10 cm of rainfall was recorded. The rain figures from Kochi Airport indicated that the area received 9 cm and Piravom 7cm.
The Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery received 5.64 cm rain.
The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that heavy rain/thundershower will occur at most places in Kerala and at many places in Lakshadweep.
