The extremely heavy rainfall that occurred in the last couple of days in central Kerala led to the flash flood in Kochi, said Revenue Minister K. Rajan. Replying to a short notice question raised by Mathew T. Thomas in the Assembly on Thursday, Mr. Rajan said the drains in the city were designed considering the flood return probabilities of the following 10–15 years. These drains are unable to carry the floodwater in extreme rainfall situations like the one Kochi witnessed now.
Kochi is one of the 25 cities selected by the National Disaster Management Authority to hold a study on flood probabilities. The national agency has been making an assessment to decide on the changes to be brought to the civic infrastructure based on the study.
