A high-level meeting convened here on Monday finalised an action plan to prevent flooding in the city. The 100-day action plan includes immediate measures to address the problem of flooding as well as long term solutions.
Ministers V. Sivankutty and Antony Raju who chaired the meeting said the thrust of the project will be on deepening the Amayizhanjan, Pattom and Ulloor canals criss-crossing the city and cleaning the drains along 81 roads that are part of the Smart City and Kerala Road Fund Board projects. The stormwater drains lining the roads under the City Corporation and National Highway and the Chacka-Eenchakkal bypass road would also be cleaned on a war footing within a week.
The meeting authorised District Collector Jeromic George to review the progress of the action plan and report to the government every week. Stakeholder departments have been directed to complete the works in time.
Monitoring system
The Ministers said the desilting of the three canals will resolve the problem of flooding in the city. The action plan estimates 1.5 lakh cubic metres of accumulated silt in the canals. An automatic real-time water level monitoring and alert system will be installed to keep a constant tab on the canals. A special team headed by the Sub-Collector has been set up to remove encroachments and restore the carrying capacity of the canals.
They informed the meeting that the work on the Smart City roads and the KRFB roads through Attakulangara and Vazhuthacaud had been tendered and the work was expected to be completed by next June.
The long-term solutions include widening the Pattom, Ulloor and Kunnukuzhy canals. Based on the recommendations of the Minor Irrigation department, steps would be taken to widen the Thettiyar canal and demolish the constructions blocking the natural flow of water. The floodbase of the Thettiyar canal would be widened to address the problem of flooding in the Technopark campus.
Discharge regulator at Veli
The construction of sidewalls along the Karamana, Killi and Vamanapuram rivers and the desiltation of the Aruvikkara dam and Aakulam and Vellayani lakes will be completed soon. A discharge regulator will be installed at the mouth of the Veli Lake to control flooding. A GIS-based master plan for flood control is another major proposal.
Mayor Arya Rajendran said the Corporation had decided to procure sucking-cum-jetting machines to desilt the drains. The Corporation and the Kerala water Authority would launch a drive to find out illegal connections to manholes and AI cameras would be installed to detect illegal dumping of waste into canals. The campaign to promote rainwater harvesting would be strengthened.
Officials of the Revenue, Disaster Management, Public Works and Irrigation departments were present at the meeting.
