Corporation yet to dredge ‘thodus’

Residents fear flooding during the monsoon if the silt is not removed from the drains

Danger:The Mangaluru City Corporation is yet to dredge the stormwater drain at Kodialbail in the city.

With the monsoon fast approaching, the Mangaluru City Corporation is yet to dredge and clean the city’s thodus (major stormwater drains) for smooth flow of stormwater.

The thodus in flood-prone areas like Subhash Nagara, Pandeshwara, Hoige Bazar, Boloor, Kottara Chowki, Kuloor, and Jeppinamogaru are yet to be dredged.

A 2-km long stormwater drain passes through Attavara, Pandeshwara, Hoige Bazar and Subhash Nagara.

If it is not dredged, it would flood these areas, said Premananda Shetty, Councillor (Mangaladevi ward), who is also the former leader of the Opposition in the corporation council. He said that engineers were now concentrating on the issue of water supply and hence the corporation would have pressed environment engineers to focus on the dredging work. The major drains in Kudroli, Bejai, Kodialbail, and Sulthan Battery are also yet to be cleaned, he said.

“The corporation should also ensure that it removes the silt from the banks of drains. Otherwise, silt would accumulate again in the drains. The same should be done in the case of roadside drains,” he said.

Lancelot Pinto, Chairman, Standing Committee for Town Planning and Improvement, said that 151

thodus would be dredged at an estimated cost of Rs. 81 lakh. The bidders selected for those works have been given time till May 21 to credit earnest money deposit (EMD) with the civic body.

They would be issued work orders soon. As earth movers were being used to dredge the drains, the remaining 10 days (from May 21) would be enough for the dredging process, he said.

Mr. Pinto said that flooding mainly occurred in areas where major drains joined the rivers or the sea.