Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Tuesday, May 31, 2005 |
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Thiruvananthapuram
Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The flooding of the Thampanoor and East Fort areas following the heavy downpour on Sunday night has ignited a fresh debate on the long-pending proposal to construct bypass drains in these two areas to divert the water in the Amayizhanjan canal. Officials in the Irrigation and Public Works departments are sharply divided over the feasibility of the project. The bypass drains were initially proposed in a flood control project prepared by the City Corporation and the Kerala Urban Development Project in 1999. The project had recommended the construction of a 14-feet-deep parallel canal from the Power House to Thakarapparambu. Cutting across the six-lane road, the canal was designed to reduce the quantum of stormwater reaching Pazhavangady. Another part of the project was the construction of a second bypass drain starting from the old RMS building and passing through Overbridge Junction and SL Theatre Road through underground pipes to empty into the Vanchiyoor Thodu. This parallel drain was proposed to divert water from upstream of the Thampanoor culvert. The proposals remained in cold storage until 2001 when they resurfaced as part of a Rs.3-crore project submitted by an expert committee headed by the Superintending Engineer, Irrigation. But the recommendations remained on paper even as the annual cycle of monsoons continued to play havoc with the city. In 2003, the Government again decided to explore the feasibility of a bypass canal from the Power House up to Thakarapparambu to divert floodwaters from the East Fort area. The project was grounded after the PWD questioned its feasibility. The former Speaker and chairman of the Capital City Development Forum, M. Vijayakumar, said the bypass canals were proposed as a lasting solution to the floods in the Thampanoor and East Fort areas. He feels that any other flood control project would only be an ad hoc measure and a waste of public money. The former Principal Secretary, PWD, Babu Jacob, said the proposals for construction of bypass drains were not based on a scientific assessment. Mr. Jacob, who is now Advisor to the Government on Urban Renewal Schemes, said the ongoing reconstruction of the culvert at Pazhavangady would be followed up by detailed hydraulic studies to assess the flow characteristics of the canal. "Our project involves desilting the canal, realigning the utility lines running under the culverts and enlarging the narrow ventway under the railway yard at Thampanoor. Once this work is completed, we plan to carry out a section-wise hydraulic study and correct the slope to improve flow. The project is expected to be over before the 2006 monsoon but until then, the city may have to put up with recurrent flooding," he said.
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