Sensors installed in five city areas will warn the civic authorities about impending flooding and possible waterlogging.
The sensors have been installed at the KSRTC bus stand, Kala Bhavan Road, Panampilly Nagar, Journalists’ Colony, and Vivekananda Road which experience heavy flooding during the rainy season. The flood alert facility was installed as part of the flood management programme of the International Urban and Regional Corporation of the European Union, according to a communication issued by the Kochi Corporation.
Kochi and the Italian city of Messina are the technical partners of the regional cooperation programme. Incidentally, the floodwater sensors developed by the University of Messina for Messina city are being deployed in Kochi.
The sensors were installed by a team of experts led by Panagiotis Karamanos, who heads the computer science department of the Italian university. Delegates from the European Union were in Kochi during the installation of the sensors, according to a communication issued by Mayor M. Anilkumar.
The ultrasound sensors will keep a tab on the water level, and alarms will be issued when it breaches dangerous levels. The alerts will be received at the dashboard set up at the university. The information thus generated will be passed on to Kochi city in no time, the communication said.
Antonino Galletta, assistant professor of computer science at the university, made a presentation at the Kochi Corporation Council hall on Thursday.
The work on a dashboard for Kochi by bringing on board the Integrated Command and Control Centre and Urban Observatory has also been initiated. The sensors will serve in effectively addressing the urban flooding, the communication said.
Officials of the Kochi Corporation, State Disaster Management Authority, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Irrigation Department, Kerala State Electricity Board, Kerala Water Authority, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, Cochin Smart Mission Limited, and the Centre for Heritage Environment and Development attended.
