Even as efforts to save the Killi river are in full swing, the caving in of a part of the retaining wall near the Thozhuvancode bridge in Kanjirampara ward on Monday has raised fears of flooding among the residents here. A part of the retaining wall, stretching close to 150 metres, had caved in to the river.
Residents said the construction of the retaining wall near the Thozhuvancode temple six years ago had brought an end to the frequent flooding in the area.
“The water levels here can go really high, when the river is in spate during monsoon. Before the retaining wall was built, all the houses in the area used to get flooded regularly. The wall came as a huge relief. Now, there is a threat of the water coming in, when the monsoon arrives,” said Vijikumar, a resident.
Kanjirampara Ravi, the ward councillor, said that the retaining wall was built above an existing concrete wall of low height, which was built several decades back. “It was the old wall which caved in. Since the new one was built above the old one, that too came down. In its current state, it poses a huge danger.
The wall was constructed by the Minor Irrigation Department. Often the city Corporation ends up taking up a lot of work which is supposed to be done by the Minor Irrigation Department, especially the drains. With our limited funds, it is impossible for us to do that,” he said.
Around 30 lakh
Minor irrigation officials say that steps are being taken to reconstruct the wall ahead of the monsoon. “We visited the area on Tuesday. The new retaining wall was built a little away from the old one. But with the base wall caving in, the entire structure came down. The estimated cost for reconstruction will be between ₹25 lakh and ₹30 lakh. The safety of the other portions of the wall also has to be checked,” said an official.
