KOCHI: For the 48 families living in the 25 acres of land at Kammattipadam Colony, life cannot get any worse. It all started some three years ago when the Railways decided to lay new tracks near the colony, which lies adjacent to the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station. Since then, the area has been facing severe waterlogging.
The situation aggravates during rains when wastewater from nearby areas floods here. Despite the pitiable situation, the authorities are doing nothing, local families say.
Now, they are up in arms seeking a solution, including rehabilitation. Kammattipadam Residents Association members said they have decided to approach the state government and the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) seeking a rehabilitation package.
“The area is prone to epidemic outbreak as urban filth, including human excreta, floats around during monsoon. The residents have suffered enough, so we need the state government and the GCDA to intervene. The authorities should introduce a project with the consensus of all parties involved to rehabilitate the residents to nearby areas under the GCDA limits,” said L Vikraman, treasurer of the residents association.
According to the residents, even minor construction works, like levelling the land, can only be undertaken after procuring permission from the Railways.
"The situation now is such that we need to obtain the Railways' permission even to dig a pit or repair a water pipe. We have been demanding a proper drainage for decades," said Nirmala Rajappan, member of the residents association.
The woes don't end there. The lives of the residents come to a standstill if a train halts on the tracks either for repair works or for transferring goods. “A headload worker succumbed to cardiac arrest recently as we could not take him to the hospital after a train obstructed the way. We don't want such mishaps repeating," added Nirmala.
Meanwhile, councillor Poornima Narayan said many welfare projects devised by the corporation is in limbo due to the stance taken by the Railways.
“The railway authorities stop us from even constructing a drainage in the area. Once we approached the Human Rights Commission in this regard, but the Railways maintains it cannot allow work in the area as it has high-tension power cables in the area with three major tracks,” she said.
The councillor added the proposal to rehabilitate the residents will be brought before the Kochi Corporation and GCDA authorities.
Works in limbo
According to the residents, even minor construction works, like levelling the land, can only be undertaken after procuring permission from the Railways.
"The situation now is such that we need to obtain the Railways' permission even to repair a water pipe. We have been demanding a proper drainage for decades," said residents.