Glad to read the report published in The Hindu dated June 17 on the steps taken by the corporation to check flooding in the city and suburbs. But there is a minor crib. On many roads, the side drains have been raised and turned into footpaths. However, many roads are being flooded because the outlets to the drains are not at the place where the water pools up or at an even height with the road for rainwater to flow out. Some of the house owners have also blocked the smooth flow of water by raising their home frontage for easy exit and entry of vehicles. This causes difficulty to the pedestrians as vehicles splash water on them. Corporation squads should be asked to inspect all the roads and ensure that the holes are provided where the water is getting collected after the rains.
An example is Thammanam junction on the Thammanam-Vyttila road. There are many such points on this road at Kuthappadi, Anchumuri etc.
—Unnikrishnan.V, Kochi.
When residents in certain parts of Kochi are spending hours in queue for tankers carrying drinking water, in other parts of the city the precious commodity is being wasted because of the authority’s apathy in taking timely action on drinking water wastage. The Residents’ Apex Council Ernakulam (RACE), North Meghala, in a meeting held on Thursday, has decided to go ahead with a series of protests if the authorities concerned do not take remedial steps to find a solution to stop wastage of drinking water. The residents of Mathai Manjooran Road and K.K. Padmanabhan Road in the Corporation Ward 68 and also under division 69 in Madavanathazham area are in distress because of drinking water shortage. Repeated representations submitted to the Kerala Water Authority have not yielded results. We have brought to the attention of the authorities about the leakage of drinking water pipeline under the culvert on Mathai Manjooran Road, opposite to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and no action has been taken to plug the leak. Similarly, at the ERG compound also, the water is being wasted because of a crack on the pipeline.
--K.N. Chandrasekharan, General Secretary, Residents’ Apex Council Ernakulam North Mekhala, Ayyappankavu.
Compiled by K.K. Sankaran
