THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The monsoon has arrived. With it arises the threat of flood and water logging. And, the residents of River Valley Residents Association area and Secretariat Colony region at Maruthamkuzhi live in fear. Every rainy season, the retain wall in the place breaks, flooding the entire area. “If the rain continues for 7-8 hours like this in the catchments areas of Killiyaar, the earthen bund will surely break inundating the area,” says Damodaran Nair, resident of Maruthamkuzhi Secretariat colony. Around five houses in the place were partly destroyed and more than 20 vehicles were damaged. This 40-metre earthen wall was re-strengthen by concrete retain wall in 2015 and the area was safe for some time.
“Last year was the worst, houses were fully submerged and we had to use a boat to move to a safer place. This year, so far things are safe,” says Saraswathi Amma whose house in River Valley Residents Association was damaged during last June.
However, the 135-metre area between River Valley Residents Association and Secretariat Colony still has the earthen wall which can break at any time. Also, the concrete wall along the 100-m stretch from Kaaduvetti bridge lacks sufficient height and a flood can put more than 48 houses in area under water.
“In 2014, the work taken up by Major Irrigation Department in 2014 started well. But they ended up building concrete retain wall of insufficient height in certain areas, “ says Ramachandran Nair , Secretary River Valley Residents Association. According to him, a major portion of the retain wall (135 m) is still earthen wall and the problem will be solved only if it is converted into a concrete one. The association estimates the cost to be around `60 lakhs and they have already approached the officials to complete the project before the monsoon gets worse.