Despite the unexpected hurdle posed by the Tauktae cyclone, the Kozhikode Corporation has resumed its pre-monsoon cleaning in most of the wards with increased vigour, to face the fast approaching south-west monsoon. The activities had begun earlier this month, but could not be completed in most places before the low pressure-induced rain last week and as a result, some parts of the city suffered from waterlogging.
“We have a map of places that are susceptible to waterlogging and activities have been planned in every ward accordingly under the leadership of the ward councillors and the rapid action teams for disaster management”, said S.Jayasree, Health Standing Committee Chairperson of the corporation.
Rapid action teams consisting of 25 persons have been formed in each ward and they are mostly skilled workers such as plumbers, electricians, and even fishermen, who are being trained by Trauma Care Kozhikode to respond to emergency situations. Mavoor Road near the mofussil bus stand is one of the regions with high probability of waterlogging during rain. The drains were found to be clogged with plastic waste even though there are no inlets into these drains. “It is high time the public act responsibly and stop squeezing in plastic waste into the drains through small holes meant for water”, Ms. Jayasree said.
Meanwhile, the rise in the water level in Conolly canal during high tide is a matter of concern as the water enters the city drains as well, leading to waterlogging in some parts. “The permanent solution to this issue is clearing the mouth of the Conolly canal opening into the Kallai river. Desilting the estuary of the river is under active consideration. The corporation has already given ₹7 crore to the irrigation department for the purpose”, she said.
The corporation has allotted ₹2 lakh per ward for pre-monsoon cleaning of which ₹50,000 has already been sanctioned. Besides, every ward gets ₹40,000 from the Suchitwa Mission and ₹5,000 from the National Health Mission for pre-monsoon cleaning. “There is a scarcity of labourers due to the lockdown, but we manage using local people and the designated sanitation workers in every ward”, she said.
Official launch
Mayor Beena Philip will officially launch the year’s pre-monsoon activities at Palayam market on Saturday.
