KOCHI: With the monsoon intensifying, the worst fears of people living near the Mullassery Canal have come true. Even after extensive rejuvenation work, which spanned over five years and cost more than ₹20 crore, the canal still fails to channel stormwater effectively. As a result, the sprawling urban heartland it runs through is inundated after the recent showers.
“Since the onset of the monsoon, my home was flooded for the fourth time on Sunday,” explained 83-year-old T Ravindran, who stays on Swami Vivekananda Road.
“We endured years of renovation work that, needless to say, upended our lives. But even after, we are left with even worse waterlogging. What was the point of all that ‘development’ if it has only plunged our daily lives into deeper misery,” he added.
As The New Indian Express had highlighted earlier, much of the problem still lies with the canal, more precisely, with its shoddy renovation work. Residents, including local councillor Padmaja S Menon, have pointed out that the project was carried out without proper planning or adequate supervision.
“I had met the officials, even the Collector, numerous times since the work began to air many concerns. The work was sloppy right from the start. Like me, others too had raised the alarm, but none were heeded,” lamented 76-year-old P K Balan, a resident.
First envisioned in 2020 as a 'three-month project' to tame urban flooding as part of the much-touted Operation Breakthrough, the canal, now sealed off with concrete slabs in most sections, gives the impression that all is well.
“But peel back the surface and you’ll find a half-dug, misshapen canal bed littered with pipes and gunny bags,” explained councillor Padmaja, adding, “The hydraulic capacity has vanished.”
Even a senior official, who was upbeat about the project until Sunday’s showers, has now admitted to this fact. “The water is still. There’s no flow,” he said, but stopped short of accepting any responsibility for what went wrong. Instead, he alluded to it as ‘nature at work’, further alienating himself from the project.
The section where the Vivekananda Canal joins the Mullassery Canal (the South Railway culvert) is, even to the casual observer, too narrow to channel stormwater effectively. Interestingly, it was only two weeks ago that the work on this stretch was completed. But even then, so much remains to be done.
“The contractor Bijli, who’s pleading to exit from this work, left this vital section for the last minute and then had to rush through it. Now, you can understand why we are not surprised that our roads are flooded,” said Manikuttan, who had, anticipating this very result, installed a heavy industry motor to pump out water from his home.
Much of the waterlogging in the city’s core, especially the perennially-flooded KSRTC South Bus Stand, Karikkamuri, Chittoor Road, and even MG Road, could be avoided with the successful rejuvenation of the Mullassery Canal. But it seems even a stern rap from the Kerala High Court (not once, but over seven times) has failed to fast-track progress.
“It is a classic case of what happens when too many government desks share a single ditch,” pointed out Padmaja.
It seems the rains are finally here, but the ‘breakthrough’ is not.