Anu Kuruvilla By Express News Service KOCHI: Even as south-west monsoon hit the city, albeit mildly, it brought to light the inefficiency of Kochi Corporation. Just a day or two of rain saw many places in the city getting water-logged. The residents and owners of business establishments in the areas, where waterlogging is at its worst, blamed the shoddy cleaning work and planning by the civic body for the persisting problem. SRV High School on MG Road Monsoon is an enemy for the students and teachers of SRV High School. Well, it is not that those at the school don’t like rain. They do. But once it rains, the school compound gets inundated. The problem is worse in the upper primary section of the school. “Inundation is an annual phenomenon here. Once MG Road got raised and drains were built as part of Kochi Metro project, waterlogging became even worse,” said Madhuri, headmistress, SRV UP School. “Today, our compound wall stands a good 2.08m in height from inside, while it is only 1.08m high outside. That is how high the road is now. When we tried to poke a hole into the drain from our side to release water from the school compound, we found water rushing in from the drain to our side. We had to plug the hole at once,” she said. Even the drain has been constructed at an elevation, she added. According to her, even after repeated representations, neither the corporation nor the government has done anything to solve the problem. The school doesn’t need tiles to pave the ground, said a teacher. “What it needs is funds to increase the height of classroom floors. After the classrooms got inundated, the children studying in classes V to VIII were shifted to rooms in the high school section,” the teacher added. Since water entered the kitchen, lunch for students are now prepared at high school kitchen. SRV Road Dirty, foul-smelling water from the clogged drain that has filled the road speaks a lot about the cleaning drive carried out by the Corporation. A byroad, but a busy one at that, SRV Road is used by people to get to Chittoor Road. However, waterlogging forces motorists to take a detour than risk getting splashed with dirty water. “It is the quickest way. But why should I risk damaging my vehicle?” asked an auto driver. “Look at how water has accumulated in one part of the road,” he said. While space in front of Kera Bhavan is relatively free from waterlogging, the portion towards Chittoor is submerged. Vivekananda Road Though the problem of waterlogging no longer afflicts the front entrance to Ernakulam South railway station, Vivekananda Road in front of the railway quarters still gets inundated. However, when it comes to the road, the Corporation and the Railways pass the buck to each other. Perandoor canal The water-level in Perandoor canal has risen and in many places, if it rains for a day or two, filthy water will breach the banks. According to Jolly Raphael, whose house is located by the side of the canal, it is an annual ordeal. “Corporation does carry out cleaning work here. But it all comes to nought when it rains cats and dogs. They pile the silt along the banks, which get washed right into the canal. We wonder what they want to achieve by this farce of an exercise,” she said. Keeping the issue in mind, all new constructions have raised floors, she added. Overflowing canals looks dangerous, she said.

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