To mitigate the impact of monsoon in the city, the Coimbatore Corporation has started cleaning drains. For the last two days, the civic body has been cleaning the drain flowing north to south on the western side of Dr. Krishnasamy Road.
The Corporation would continue to clean the drain for the next few days and then clean the Goods Shed Road stretch of the same drain, Corporation sources said. The civic body had engaged a super sucker machine for the purpose.
The Corporation officials in the five zones had also planned to use the machine to clean large and deep drains as it was not advisable to clean these manually. The machine removed silt, waste and any growth to ensure free flow of sewage.
The zonal officials were also preparing estimates to engage workers to clean other drains, and the zonal committees would meet to approve of the bids soon, the sources said.
The Corporation had also kept ready motors to pump out stagnant water from the subways and underpasses on Avinashi Road, at Kaleeswara Mills, Kikani School, Lanka Corner and a few other places.
230 mm rainfall predicted
Meanwhile, the Agro Climate Research Centre at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here has predicted that Coimbatore might receive 230 mm rainfall this South West Monsoon.
Details shared by the Centre showed that the onset of the monsoon had begun. It was expected to set in over the Kerala coast in a week to 10 days, and a week thereafter it would reach Coimbatore.
The South West Monsoon season from June to September usually brought 210mm rainfall to Coimbatore district – the long-term average for the season. Thought it would be marginally higher this year, it would still be a “normal” monsoon.
While a month-wise prediction was not possible now, the Centre said the long-term average showed that Coimbatore had received 42.8 mm in June, 68.5 mm in July, 30.7 mm in August and 68.4 mm in September in 16 rainy days. The Centre accounted a day with over 2.5 mm precipitation as rainy day.
