In a few days from now when the South West Monsoon hits the Kerala coast and then the city’s boundary, the Coimbatore Corporation’s monsoon-preparedness test will begin. The civic body will face it in the natural and storm water drains it had constructed across the city.
Those familiar with the situation say that the Corporation is likely to fare poorly as the drains are choked in several places and the silt hardly removed. The response from the Corporation though is that it has done the spade work.
A senior Corporation engineer says that the civic body is ready as it had to clear the natural and storm water drains a month ago to face the unexpected summer showers. Using men and machinery, it had worked hard to ensure that the rain water flowed into the tanks.
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Another officer says that in any case the civic body is ready because the natural drain and storm water drain cleaning works are ongoing — something that happens round the year.
But not many buy the argument. The sceptics say that in most places the drains are chocked, or above the road surface or closed to the water flowing off the roads. Pointing to the natural drains they say that civic body has hardly removed the bushes and cleared it off waste.
Sanganoor Pallam, Ganapathy-Singanallur channel, Karupparayan Odai, Seeranaickenpalayam Odai are a few of the natural drains that let out water into the tanks in the city.
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The Corporation had constructed storm water drain for over 700km at over Rs. 100 crore in the old city areas. In the added areas, no such facility exists.
Sources in the added area say the residents there have to wade through water as no proper drain facility exists. At least in those areas the civic body should remove silt from natural drains and channels that take rain water to the small tanks there.
Water management experts say that the Coimbatore Corporation receives around 270 million cubic feet water, which if stored and directed to tanks could improve groundwater and meet the water requirements of people for at least two years.
The caveat is that the mix of sewage with the water has to stop.
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has, incidentally, appealed to the Coimbatore Corporation to be prepared for the monsoon at the earliest.
The party’s district secretary R.R. Mohankumar has asked the Corporation to keep motors in running condition so that subways are free of water to be thrown open for vehicles at the earliest.
Mayor P. Rajkumar says that he will convene a meeting with officials to check the monsoon preparedness, draw a timetable and implement works in such a fashion that drains are cleaned, inundation is prevented and roads are not water logged.
The Agro Climatic Research Centre at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has predicted that South West Monsoon this year will be 88 per cent normal.
Coimbatore normally receives 43mm in June, 69 in July, 30 in August and 68mm in September.
Last year Coimbatore received 218mm. This year the Centre has predicted that the Monsoon will hit Coimbatore by June 5.