KOCHI: With the southwest monsoon less than two weeks away from making landfall, Kochi finds itself staring at the spectre of waterlogging despite multiple flood-mitigation projects and crores spent on drainage and canal restoration.
The city, flanked by the Vembanad Lake and the Arabian Sea, has historically remained vulnerable to flooding during heavy rains. The early pre-monsoon showers this year once again exposed Kochi’s weak spots, with key stretches such as MG Road, Madhava Pharmacy Junction, Edappally, Kaloor, Pachalam and residential pockets including Panampilly Nagar, SBT Road, Chilavannoor and Pandarachira witnessing severe waterlogging and traffic snarls.
Though Kochi has no shortage of flood-prevention schemes — from Operation Breakthrough to Urban Regeneration and Water Transport System (URWTS) project and multiple public works department (PWD) interventions — residents continue to face recurring inundation with little visible improvement.
Kochi corporation has begun pre-monsoon canal and drain cleaning works under Operation Breakthrough. “We have begun cleaning all the major and minor canals and roadside drains, and most of the work is halfway through,” said corporation town planning standing committee chairperson P M Naseema.
However, several crucial initiatives remain incomplete. Major renovation works along Mullassery Canal and TP Canal continue to lag. According to officials, these may take another year.
“We are in the agreement stage of awarding work on the remaining 175m stretch of Mullassery Canal. Construction of the side wall lining TP Canal is nearly 90% complete,” said an official with the minor irrigation department. The district administration has directed departments to submit progress reports by May 15.
Residents in Pachalam, meanwhile, continue to blame the Railways for failing to clean culverts, leading to flooding along St Benedict Road, St Vincent Road and Kalabhavan Road.
The Rs 3,000-crore URWTS project, announced in 2019 and implemented by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, also remains in the preliminary phase, with dredging work in Chilavannoor Canal progressing slowly.
Last November, the National Disaster Management Authority sanctioned Rs 222 crore for designing and implementing flood-resilience measures in the city, for which the corporation has been tasked with preparing a detailed project report. Apart from these, the PWD is implementing a series of interventions, including a Rs 42-lakh flood mitigation project at High Court Junction.
Experts, however, say the problem lies not in the absence of projects, but in fragmented planning and poor execution. “We should look at the unscientific construction of the canal system. We need a well designed drainage network that connects to the main canals, which allows water to drain into the lake and perfectly balances the flooding situation in the city,” former irrigation officer Baji Chandran said.
