Thiruvananthapuram: The flooding of Thampanoor and adjoining areas on Tuesday following heavy spell of rain has raised a big question mark over the effectiveness of flood mitigating measures taken during Operation Anantha.
Scenes of people, vehicles wading through flood waters in Thampanoor were not witnessed even during monsoon last year. The credit for a flood-free Thampanoor was given to the flood mitigating measures carried out under operation Anantha then.
However, the heavy spell of rain on Tuesday led to waterlogging in Thampanoor, SS Kovill road, Aristo Junction and Pazhavangadi.
Traffic was disrupted, telephone lines got snapped, drainages were over flowing and sewage water flowed into houses in many areas.
Those in the affected areas had just one question before the administration. How did the drains that were claimed to have been cleared could not prevent flooding in these areas? A section of officials however claimed that the debris that was cleared as part of the pre-monsoon cleanliness drive, ended up back in drains due to heavy rains. This resulted in flooding of the low lying areas.
Local MLA V.S. Sivakumar said under Operation Anantha the target areas were the eastern portion of the capital city like East Fort and Aryasala. The central region was not given much consideration. “We are analysing what went wrong. I will take up the matter with the authorities concerned ,” he added.
Thampanoor councillor M.V. Jayalekshmi said the flood mitigation project could not be effectively implemented because of the lack of cooperation from the residents in certain areas. The flooding of SS Kovil Road is mainly due to encroachments in the area and dumping of waste into the drains. Some of the hotels are also dumping waste into the nearby canal causing blockages.
The authorities, however, say that the functioning of the drainage system in Thampanoor and adjoining areas will be put to the test in the coming monsoon season.
