Kochi Mayor’s confession: Was difficult to oversee pre-monsoon works due to LS polls

Kochi: In what sounded like a confession of sorts amid the blame game over the summer rains floods in and around the city, Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar on Wednesday said that it was difficult for him to over see the corportaion’s pre-monsoon cleaning drive due to the Lok Sabha elections.

The mayor said the pre-monsoon cleaning drive was supposed to be completed by May 15, but it got delayed till May 30. “Due to the Lok Sabha elections held in April, as the mayor it was naturally difficult for me personally to check the pre-monsoon cleaning works,” he said in a statement even as incessant rain caused heavy waterlogging in several parts of the city for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. The polling for the Lok Sabha elections were held in Kerala on April 26.

Stating that the authorities could understand the practical steps needed to be taken in low-lying areas like Palluruthy during an inspection conducted on Tuesday, the mayor said special attention will be given to such matters.

The mayor blamed the Irrigation Department for the delay in completing the widening of the Mullassery canal and said necessary intervention will be made to complete the works in the canal and the South Railway Station area.

He said the deployment of a suction-cum-jetting machine to clear drainage could bring down tthe intensity of flooding on the busy MG Road. “No major problems were reported on MG Road from Padma Junction to Madhava Pharmacy Junction. The flood water on MG Road drained out within almost an hour during the last two days of rain. The operation of the suction-cum-jetting machine will be focussed more at Jos Junction,” he said.

Traffic breakdown
“Although the coordination with various agencies under the leadership of the mayor and the district collector has been going well, it has been noticed that there was a complete breakdown of traffic from Aluva yesterday. This has been brought to the attention of the police. When the monsoon arives, steps will definitely be taken to work with the police to resolve the issue,” he said.

On the continued flooding of the The KSRTC bus stand during every rainy season, the mayor cited low-lying geography as the reason for the situation. He said the intervention of Industries Minister P Rajeeve, also from Ernakulam district, has been requested to construct a new bus stand.

Cleaning of the Perandur Canal’s stretch between GCDA and Thevara will continue. The mayor said the corporation has decided to purchase a silt pusher machine which is expected to arrive by the end of June. A weed harvester and a small suction-cum-jetting machine to remove silt and plastic waste from lakes and streams will also be bought.

The mayor requested the public to cooperate by taking care not to put plastic in the water bodies and not to pollute the backwaters.

Congress protest on June 1
The opposition Congress will stage a strike in front of the Kochi corporation office on June 1 to protest against the failures of the state government and the local body in preventing waterlogging in the city and its surrounding areas, District Congress Committee president Muhammad Shiyas said.

The party has assessed that the fault in the implementation of the Operation Breakthrough project, the unscientific construction of canals and laxity in the pre-monsoon cleaning have led to the waterlogging.