Parts of Kochi, including areas in West Kochi were inundated in the heavy down pour that lashed the district from Tuesday night and went on till Wednesday noon, proof that civic agencies and other government departments failed to learn from lessons from the floods during 2018.
Thickly-populated residential colonies in low-lying areas like Udaya Colony, P and T Colony and Mattancherry were the worst affected with water from drains and sewers entering houses. Many households had to shift to the first floor in areas like the eastern parts of Edapally-Aroor NH Bypass, which are generally less impacted by flooding during rainy weather.
But as was the norm during past monsoons, stakeholders in different agencies blamed each other for the situation. A senior Corporation official said that the agency did a proper pre-monsoon clean up of drains and canals, albeit belatedly, despite the COVID-19 lockdown.
Flooding could have been prevented if all drains and canals emptied into the backwaters and other waterbodies around Kochi. This is not happening. Moreover, slush and silt that accumulated in the mouth of many waterbodies following the 2018 flood has not been cleared so far by government departments concerned.
Funds available under Centre's AMRUT scheme must be utilised to improve the situation. Even Operation Breakthrough, spearheaded by District Administration and Irrigation Department following the 2019 floods, did not yield the desired results. Officials of Kochi Corporation were not taken into confidence in this, said P.M. Harris, Chairman of Works Standing Committee of the civic agency.
A senior official of District Administration rebutted this, saying that flooding could have been worse, but for Operation Breakthrough. "Flooding was worst in and around canals maintained by Kochi Corporation," he said.
The Ernakulam MLA Hibi Eden expressed dismay at much of the city getting inundated in half a day's rainfall. "I visited Thopumpady and Chellanam earlier in the day. The situation was very bad. On its part, Kochi Corporation must shed its laid back attitude and work hand in hand with other Government departments in preventing flooding," he said.
Representatives of residents and trader associations too were critical of the functioning of civic agencies and government departments.
A few vehicles were stuck in mud, after a portion of the road caved in at Vattekunnam in Edapally.
