Though the Corporation was certain that the failure of the Centre was the main reason for the recent flooding in the capital, a meeting headed by District Collector Geromic George on Wednesday concluded that there would be no permanent solution to waterlogging in the capital without removing the garbage and silt accumulated from the water bodies.
While instructing the officials concerned to complete all related works immediately to prevent recurrent waterlogging in the city, the District Collector directed the officials to take urgent measures to remove the mud and silt accumulated in Amayizhanchan Thodu, Pattom Thodu and Ulloor Thodu to ensure the smooth flow of water. In the recent waterlogging, Thiruvananthapuram city received 150 mm of rain in 24 hours, resulting in inundation of low-lying areas. It is after 40 years that the city received such heavy rainfall twice in a year.
Kadakampally Surendran, MLA, informed the meeting that the State government has earmarked ₹37 crore for the removal of silt from Amayizhanchan Thodu and related construction works. An expert team of Barton Hill Government Engineering College has suggested that the reason for the waterlogging in Goureesapattom area was not due to the construction of Nellikuzhi bridge. A specially designed bridge is coming up in Nellikuzhi to facilitate the flow of Amayizhanchan Thodu. The construction of the bridge will be completed by December 15 and the girders will be removed, informed the meeting.
