The relatively lesser flood-related damages in Thiruvananthapuram city over the past few years had led to a kind of lull in the flood mitigation measures in the capital. Consequently, the high intensity rain in the past week took the authorities by surprise, with even areas which had not usually witnessed flooding experiencing severe water-logging. The situation has rekindled the debate on Operation Anantha, the flood mitigation drive carried out in 2015, and the lack of continuity for such measures in later years.
While the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has demanded the launch of the second phase of the operation, the State government has asked the district administration as well as the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to prepare detailed proposals for flood mitigation ahead of a meeting that the Chief Minister is set to chair on the issue.
“Though there have been discussions regarding measures similar to Operation Anantha at the State government and Corporation levels, nothing concrete has yet emerged. But in the discussions, one major long-term proposal has come from the Irrigation department to widen the Kannammoola canal, which currently does not have sufficient carrying capacity to hold the water that drains into it from the Pattom, Ulloor and Amayizhanjan canals. Currently encroachments are being cleared to build sidewalls. But we have to widen the canal, for which we have to acquire land from either side. This will also necessitate the rehabilitation of people living closer to the canal to a proper location,” said a Corporation official.
