With Operation Anantha well past its initial phase, the district administration is now mulling over options to bring down the volume of floodwater entering the city.
The flood mitigation drive, which was launched over two months ago, has mainly focused on clearing encroachments and obstructions that hindered the smooth flow of water through the canals.
But officials involved in the operation say the drive was not so simple. There is much more to be done to ensure a long-lasting solution to the perennial problem of floods the city faced.
“We have only been able to facilitate the flow of water by restoring the vital drains in the region,” District Collector Biju Prabhakar says.
Removal of cables
The administration has been considering the feasibility of removing underground cables and other utilities that obstruct water flow and prevented the maximum utilisation of drains.
Cable crossings were also found to have decreased the width of Amayizhanjan canal in certain stretches.
The high volume of water flowing towards the city during rain is a major challenge that the city faces, Mr. Prabhakar says. He quotes a study showing that a volume of 30 cubic metres per second gets collected within the city during a rainfall of 8-10 cm.
At the same time, the volume of water on the exit path is only approximately 20 cubic metres per second. This calls for measures to either improve the outgoing flow or restricting the incoming volume, he says.
Rainwater harvesting
An option to deal with the situation could be to make rainwater harvesting systems mandatory.
“At least 40 per cent of the area from Bakery Junction to Thampanoor comes under government land. We intend to propose the installation of rainwater harvesting units in government offices in the initial phase. Subsequently, they will be made necessary for commercial establishments and households,” the Collector says.
Sumps as solution
The impervious floorings on building premises and courtyards nowadays do not facilitate absorption of water.
Alternative measures such as sumps could be considered to improve this aspect, the Collector says. Responding to a query, Mr. Prabhakar says the multiplicity of implementing agencies such as the Public Works Department and the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) for the drive has created difficulties in coordinating the activities.
“An agency on the lines of the Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Ltd. (TRDCL) must ideally be constituted to ensure the unhindered progress of Operation Anantha.”
