Kochi Mayor claims effective pre-monsoon works spared city of major waterlogging

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Pre-monsoon works are being implemented effectively, and the fact that areas in the city that were previously hit by acute and persistent waterlogging were spared this time is proof of that, claimed Mayor V.K. Minimol.

In places where minor waterlogging was reported, steps were taken to drain the water by removing slabs covering drains. The situation in certain pockets that witnessed minor flooding, caused by incessant rain coupled with high tide, eased by the afternoon. Pre-monsoon works were reviewed three times a week through meetings of the engineering and health wings.

Ms. Minimol added that control room squads had been set up to monitor and mitigate flash flooding. Drain cleaning, desilting, and the removal of water hyacinth had been carried out. The waterlogging situation is being closely monitored, and steps are being taken to address the few problems that persist. She dismissed the protest staged by Democratic Youth Federation of India activists, who approached the Mayor’s office under the guise of submitting a memorandum on waterlogging, as “mere political drama”.

The governing committee, she said, was open to suggestions from all quarters, and the Corporation would move ahead while accommodating public inputs. Pre-monsoon works, she emphasised, were being undertaken through extensive consultations.