The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Flooded roads make driving a hazardous task

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Flooded roads make driving a hazardous task

By Our Staff Correspondent

With most sewers getting choked, the roads are inundated in Mangalore when it rains.

MANGALORE, JUNE 8. The problems of big cities seem to be catching up with Mangalore. With sewers getting blocked at several places, many residential areas in Mangalore have become waterlogged for the first time.

Thanks to incessant rain for the past three days, the city was flooded at various places such as Kottara, Boloor, Mannagudda, Ashok Nagar, Urva, and Matadakani, which have never been inundated before. In fact, these areas witnessed little development until the Asian Development Bank released loans for the development of the city. But a large part of the assistance has gone into widening of roads and other works, while the sewerage continues to be ignored. At many places, blacktopped roads cover manholes, which prevents excess rainwater from draining away. Hence, the roads are inundated for hours even after the rain stops. This makes driving a tedious task for motorists.

At many places, the roads have not been sloped to drain off the water. This leaves the entire stretch inundated. For instance, the stretch from university college to A.B. Shetty Circle is often flooded after rain.

Another factor that causes inundation is that many sewers are blocked at several places, which is difficult to clear. The officials of the Engineering Department, Mangalore City Corporation, maintain that they clear the sewers every year to ensure that rainwater does not accumulate on the roads. They complain that people throw plastic bags and other wastes into the drains, which chokes the sewers.

The Mayor, K. Diwakar, says that every year, tonnes of tender coconut shells are removed from the drains. He notes that they are thrown into open drains by some unscrupulous shopkeepers, which makes it difficult for the corporation workers to clear the blockage.

But with the corporation considering buying machines to dredge the drains, things might improve, Mr. Diwakar says. But it is unlikely that it will happen this monsoon.

One area of concern is closing open drains in the city, which requires heavy funding. Each year, at least two lives are lost in the open drains, according to police reports.

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