COIMBATORE: The railway underpasses and subways across the city got inundated within a short spell of rains in the wee hours of Saturday, forcing the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) officials to pump out the rainwater and clear the route.
The Coimbatore district received a heavy rainfall on Saturday. A total of 815.90 mm of rainfall was recorded in the 23 weather/rainfall stations across the district. While the Airport Peelamedu station in the district recorded the highest rainfall of 108.20 mm, the station at Mettupalayam recorded the least of 8 mm.
An average rainfall of 35.47 mm was reported in the Coimbatore district on Saturday which is about 12 mm higher than Friday's average of 24.61 mm.
District collector Kranthi Kumar Pati along with the CCMC Deputy Commissioner Dr S Selvasurabi and other officials inspected the waterlogged subways in the city on Saturday and instructed the concerned officials to immediately pump out the rainwater and clear the route for traffic movement.
Later, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran along with the CCMC engineers inspected the Lanka Corner Junction and the railway underpass in the city. He also inspected the road near the junction where the iron grill installed by the civic body for draining rainwater was affecting vehicle movement and causing traffic congestion.
The civic body in its annual budget for the financial year 2023-24 had announced that sponge parks will be established across the city to drain the rainwater and store them for future use.
The officials had allegedly planned on setting up the facility in the subways and railway underpasses to suck the rainwater that gets stagnated. However, no steps were taken in this regard so far.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said that sponge parks will not be set up in the railway underpasses and subways of Coimbatore as they are only suitable for schools, public parks, government buildings and not for public roads. The CCMC shall continue using heavy duty motor pumps and pump out the rainwater.
"As far as the Lanka Corner junction is concerned, the officials had built the drain grill a bit higher than the road surface and as a result, it has become a speedbreaker-like structure. So, we shall fix it by adding it in the DPR for the road project works that are to be taken up soon. The issue will be sorted out and the pedestrian pathways will be built like the ones constructed for the NMT corridor project. As a temporary solution, I've instructed the officials to put some concrete mix and build a ramp for easing the vehicle movement," he added.