The catastrophe that occurred in Kerala has prompted the Puducherry government to swing into action ahead of the northeast monsoon, which is round the corner.
The Union Territory’s administration is working on a plan, drawing on the experience of having dealt with three cyclones that hit the region in the last 10 years.
With just a few weeks left for the onset of the rainy season, the government appears to be keen on taking preventive action, especially with regard to desilt the stormwater drains which are choked with garbage.
The condition of main carriageways that take rainwater to the Thengaithittu lagoon need immediate attention.
List of priorities
Chief Engineer of Public Works Department Shanmugasundaram told The Hindu that a meeting chaired by Minister for Public Works A. Namassivayam and Minister for Agriculture R. Kamalakannan held two days ago decided to take steps on priority.
The focus was to clear debris and accumulated silt from the canals such as Uppanar, Karuvadikuppam, Mettuvaikkal, Pallavaikkal and Krishna Nagar. Work order had been given to dredge Uppanar, Mettuvaikkal and Pallavaikkal canals. The work was estimated to cost about ₹1. 5 crore, he added.
In a day or two, tenders would be floated to clear 18 more channels of the accumulated silt. There were plans to place floating trash collectors in the canals to remove debris, plastics and weeds. One such trash collector was kept near a point where Uppanar joined the lagoon. “It has been of much help in removing the debris. If the debris are allowed to reach the confluence point, the flow of water to the lagoon would get stuck,” he said.
Rampant encroachment
“Prevention is better than cure. This adage is applicable for all situations, including a natural calamity. Puducherry has a good network of stormwater drains built during the French regime. This saved the region from flooding. But the situation is different now. There are buildings built along these drains leading to narrowing of the canals,” said N. Venkataramani, Area 2 chairman of Round Table India.
According to P. Devanathan, president of People’s Pulse, rampant encroachment of the banks had reduced the carrying capacity of the canals. Two or three decades ago, the Uppanar canal near Ajantha junction used to be at least 50 metres wide. Over the years, it had now shrunk to about 5 or 7 metres wide, he said.
“It has become a practice to give knee-jerk reaction of dredging the canals just before the monsoon. We forget the drains after the monsoon recedes.
The government should have a long-term plan to tackle the situation,” he said. The excess rainwater would drain out as long as there was no obstruction, said Probir Banerjee, president of PondyCan.
“Regrettably, the stormwater and underground drains are choked with garbage, especially plastic carry bags resulting in flooding,” he said. Dredging waterbodies was a major task that the government should take up regularly. During the French regime, Syndicat Agricol, a farmers’ body, was looking after the lakes, said Mr. Venkataramani.
“Lakes are a major source for groundwater recharge. The stored water helps deal with drought. Like in the previous years, tanks and lakes are not dredged,” said Mr. Banerjee.
Apart from cleaning of canals, the Public Works Department should make sure that the height of the roads does not go up during re-laying work. The Town Planning Department rules prescribe that houses should be 45 cm above the road level, said Mr. Devanathan.
“The unscientific re-laying of roads brings down the gap between the height of the roads and houses. In several places, we can see that the houses and roads are on the same level. This allows rainwater to enter the houses,” he said.
Mr. Venketaramani stressed on the need to prune trees and remove dangerously dangling branches before the onset of monsoon.
“We are prone to cyclones. Uprooting of branches causes damage to life and property,” he said.
