KOCHI: Hundreds of small canals in Kochi corporation limits have been reclaimed over the years and this is the major reason for waterlogging in the city. While some of them have been encroached, others were levelled for constructing roads.It’s the price we pay for neglecting the fact that Kochi is an estuarian city and failing to ensure proper maintenance of city canals. “The canals are arteries of the city. Most of the canals in Kochi are being used for dumping waste. Outlets of several septic tanks open to the canals. This has choked almost all the canals in the city leaving little room for the storm water to drain out,” said Sunny George, director, SCMS Water Institute.Many canals in Panampilly Nagar, Edappally , Kaloor, Kadavanthra, etc have been reclaimed for constructing roads. “In Panampilly Nagar, at least four canals had been reclaimed for constructing roads. Same is the condition of many other canals in Kadavanthra,” said K T Cheshire , RTI activist, who moved Kerala high court against encroachment of Chilavannoor backwaters. “Areas like Panampilly Nagar, Girinagar, Kadavanthra and Kumaranasan road were Pokkali paddy fields. Most canals in the area have disappeared. In the case of remaining ones, there is no road access and so it is difficult to clean them,” Sunny George said.Though the major reason for waterlogging is reclamation and encroachment of canals, Kochi corporation could do little to clear them. “It is a fact that canal encroachment contributes greatly to the waterlogging in the city. There are two types of encroachments. One is encroachment by landless people while the other is by big sharks,” said mayor Soumini Jain.“We have designed projects under housing schemes like Life Mission for rehabilitating the landless families living on the banks of canals. In the case of big encroachers, we used to serve notices to the offenders. But, they will move court and secure stay on our order soon,” she said.Clogging of drains also contributes to waterlogging. “Many of the utility cables and pipelines of Kerala Water Authority (KWA) pass through the drains. So, there would be a bunch of cables inside each drain. This blocks the flow of water through the drains. Interestingly, most of the telecom cables are drawn through the drains illegally,” Sunny George said.Rampant littering of plastic waste on roads and public places also cause choking of drains and canals. “The plastic waste would get stuck on the bunch of cables inside the drain. This prevents the flow of water through the drains. Though we tried to remove the cables, we couldn’t trace the owners,” said P M Harris, chairman, standing committee for works.Lack of coordination on the part of different agencies like minor irrigation department, PWD and local bodies leads to improper maintenance of canals. “There should be a mechanism to coordinate all these agencies. Then only a concerted effort to maintain these canals and drains would be possible,” Sunny George said.

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