KOCHI: Say heavy rain, and the city falls into the mess of waterlogging. For its part, the Kochi Corporation does not seem to have learnt any lesson to solve the issue as torrential rain on Wednesday night and almost the entire Thursday brought the city to a standstill. For Kochiites, it turned out to be a nightmare due to a flood-like situation in different parts.Streets in major shopping locations like MG Road, Palarivattom, Kadavanthra and Vyttila were almost inundated. Residential areas like Elamakkara, Azad Road, Judges Avenue, Kochu Kadavanthra and several parts of West Kochi too experienced a similar situation. Thoppumpady and Koovapadam were among the areas worst affected in West Kochi.
Commuters arrived at the KSRTC bus station and Ernakulam Junction Railway Station to find the premises submerged knee-deep. Heavy rain also rendered traffic to a snail's pace.
"Even though Kochi is a fast growing city in South India, it doesn't provide any facility for pedestrians to walk through the streets. There is no footpath for people to walk. When it rains, water fills the entire road and vehicles splash water on the pedestrians. The existing footpaths are dangerous to walk on as most of them are in a pathetic condition. Kochi has Metro Rail but no place to walk," Sreevardhan, a Mavelikkara native, said.
People residing at colonies were worst hit by the rain, with those at Kammattipadam, Karunthala, Udaya Colony and P&T Colony facing a flood-like situation. However, the rain water drained off by evening.
K J Antony, the Opposition Leader in the Corporation Council, said waterlogging continues to plague the city due to the sheer lethargy of the people leading the Corporation. Even though waterlogging was intense during the initial days of the monsoon, no steps were taken to clean the drainage. Crores of rupees have been received from the Centre under the Amrut project.
"The entire drainage system is non-functional. The water flow at canals is non-existent. Usually, the cleaning activities are done before the monsoon season. This year, such activities were not carried out. Now, the ordinary citizens in Kochi are suffering due to the misdeeds of people governing the Corporation," he said.Antony said the Opposition councillors will stage a protest during the Council to be held on Saturday. He also demanded the government take over the cleaning activities in the wake of the Corporation's failure.
"In the background of waterlogging at the Guest House, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had conducted a meeting with the Mayor a few months ago. However, till now, no action has been taken. The public should not expect anything from the Corporation. We will initiate strong protest activities inside the Corporation and outside to open the eyes of the governing body," he said.However, Works Committee Chairman P M Harris said the situation was not critical during this rainy season as pre-monsoon cleaning was completed well before.
Even though the Metro Rail construction was among the reasons for waterlogging, the authorities have started removing debris that caused waterlogging."A fund of Rs 3 lakh each was provided to all Councillors to complete the cleaning of drainage in their respective wards. The work was completed before the monsoon," he said.He claimed dumping of plastic waste from houses and shops were the major reason for waterlogging in the city.