The Kerala High Court once again criticised the Kochi Municipal Corporation for not taking any precautions to solve the water-logging issue in the city. Over the last two days, many parts of the city have been inundated following the rains.
The High Court said that if the Corporation fails to act, the district collector can take action under the Disaster Management Act. The court has sought a detailed report in this regard from the Kochi Corporation as well as the district administration.
A Bench led by Justice Devan Ramachandran made the observation. The Kerala government had submitted a report stating that water-logging in the city had occured as the Mullassery canal had not been cleaned. The court criticised the Corporation for not cleaning the canal and asked the Collector to look into the matter as the local body had failed. The High Court asked the administration to clean the canal on war-footing.
Last year too, the High Court had come down heavily on the Corporation. The court had asked the government to dissolve the local body if they can't function properly. The court had then asked the local body to concentrate on providing basic amenities to the public.
Last year when the city flooded, the district administration and the government launched ‘Operation Breakthrough’ wherein various departments cleaned drainages on war-footing until the water receded. As part of the operation, three canals in the city were cleaned by the district administration. The Mullassery canal was not a part of this project.
On Tuesday, district collector S Suhas said that in the areas where the operation was implemented, water-logging was not present.
On Thursday, Kochi mayor Soumini Jain said that coordination was required. “It is not right that the collector is working one way and the Corporation the other way. The main aim is to solve the issue. Many drainages and footpaths constructed in the name of development should be changed now. We have to examine whether the Operation Breakthrough was a success. When some disaster comes, all should be together and blaming each other is not the right way,” she said.
Watch: Kochi city inundated after rainfall