With the first deadline of the ‘Operation Anantha’ flood mitigation drive passing this Sunday, the officials and the public who gave all support for the operation are waiting with bated breath for the monsoon, to see how far the works have succeeded in solving the problem. According to revenue officials, they were able to finish a major part of the work on time, though there is some scepticism among the public.
Deputy Collector S.Karthikeyan said that about 70 per cent of the problem will be solved with the current operations.
“The flood situation in East Fort will be taken care of, especially after the opening up of the canal near the Ganapathi temple. The work on replacing the water pipeline which was blocking the drain will start on Monday. At Thampanoor, the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) has been asked to open the canal near Coffee House on Monday, even though some work is left. The PWD will open the canal near the Vanchiyoor Police Station. The Thampanoor flood situation can be brought under control only after the cleaning up of the canal underneath the tracks. Railways have also promised to build another canal here,” says Mr. Karthikeyan.
With the cleaning up and removal of blocks in several canals and drains leading to Thampanoor, there will be a major increase in flow towards this area.
According to officials, the inflow is 30 cubic metres of water per second whereas the outflow is only 20 cubic metres per second, which could lead to problems during heavy rains.
The sandbar in Veli was opened up last week to ensure flow and that at Edayar is being opened now.
But, even as officials claim all is well, there is an impression among the public that there has been a slowdown in the operations in recent days.
“The cleaning up of the Parvathy Puthanar was inaugurated 12 days back, but no work has been started yet. Without increasing its depth and clearing up the debris from the demolished areas, nothing will come out of this. Also, without retaining walls at the widened canals, the land will slip and block the drains again,” says G.Ravi, a resident of Muttathara.
Demolitions
According to M.Rajesh, Thampanoor local committee secretary of the CPI (M), who forwarded a request to the District Collector to take up the demolitions at S.S.Kovil Road, demolitions on many routes have been avoided to protect private parties.
“The situation at S.S .Kovil Road is still pathetic. The work on an old drain in front of Sreekumar Theatre was stopped midway. Same thing happened near the SBI zonal office. The work behind Hycinth Hotel was left halfway and the drain which passes on the other side, through the main road, was also not taken up. The sudden transfer of District Collector Biju Prabhakar needs to be read along with this,” says Mr. Rajesh.
