THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Drain cleaning, tree cutting and road maintenance coming under PWD have been assigned to the newly constituted wing, but the works have been delayed.While the irrigation dept is blamed for not desilting canals, the city corporation claims it has completed its work in almost all wards.In the end, people and localities in the city continue to face flooding after every spell of heavy rain
The road maintenance wing (RMW) constituted by the former public works minister has delayed maintenance of PWD roads and stormwater drains ahead of the monsoon in the state capital. The inter-departmental tussle is brewing as none of the agencies involved in pre-monsoon cleaning including the irrigation department, city corporation and PWD are ready to own up the responsibility for the flooding which maroons people in the city after every heavy rain.
With the monsoon already here, the majority of works are still progressing at a snails’ pace. According to officials, the state capital is still under threat as the canals and drains are filled with silt. A top official of PWD said though various pre-monsoon works are progressing, the city would still face flooding if the rivers overflow. “It is the responsibility of the local body to clean up the drains and canals. But it’s the situation and we have orders to carry out cleaning at eight or nine spots where flooding is acute. The department doesn’t have special funds for cleaning every drain in the city.
We are doing only emergency work with the minimum fund allotment. Each division would get `5 lakh or `6 lakh, which is not enough, for cleaning activities. The civic body never owns up their responsibility and when the time comes, blame on PWD. Waste management is not happening and the garbage ends up in the stormwater drains,” said a senior official of PWD.
It’s been three years since the state government formed a new wing to maintain roads and drains under the PWD. Even after the onset of the monsoon, much of the pre-monsoon work by the PWD is yet to take off.
Circle of laxity
A senior official of the PWD drainage wing said the government had issued an order in April 2020 assigning the RMW to carry out the maintenance work. According to the official, the delay in launching the pre-monsoon works happened because of this. “There was a clear direction that the RMW would be undertaking drain cleaning, tree cutting and maintenance of roads coming under PWD. But unfortunately, the department couldn’t implement the order. There are around 100 engineers under this wing and they are unable to do any of the work. Maybe, it’s because of the delay in the governmen procedures,” said the official.
“We got the orders to undertake the cleaning activities only after the cyclone in May. We haven’t wasted even a day and many works have already been completed,” the official added. Another official of the PWD blamed the irrigation department for the flooding in the city.
“Even if we clean the drains, the canals are clogged with silt. Attakulangara area faced severe flooding recently because of the uncleaned Kariyilathodu. There is no flow in the canal and the Attakulangara school was flooded in the heavy rain that lashed the city following the cyclonic formation,” said the official.
An official of RMW said, “Based on the current orders, we have been assigned the upkeep of a few roads with a running contract. For the time being, the pre-monsoon drive would be done by the roads wing of the PWD. We are anticipating more government orders to take up such work in the future,” said the official.