Amid early rains, Kochi corporation revises its cleaning calendar

Kochi: With the city starting to witness early rainfall for the past couple of years, the Kochi corporation has prepared a cleaning calendar to clear canals and drains. The aim is to complete the drive by May 15. Following the direction of high court, the district collector had earlier directed the local body to prepare the calendar in 15 days. The corporation submitted the calendar to the collector this week.The cleaning drive, as stated in the calendar, will start in Jan every year and involves tender procedures. Till now, the drive starts by April and ends before the arrival of the southwest monsoon in early June. However, in the past two years, the city has experienced early rainfall by mid-May and continued uninterrupted even when the southwest monsoon arrived in the state. "The monsoon rains arrived as early as May 15 in the past two years in the state. That is why we prepared the calendar targeting to complete the cleaning drive by that time. Besides, we will also get a grace period of a few more days. As there is a fixed time, we can also do the work in a time-bound manner. This is a pre-monsoon cleaning drive to ensure the unhindered flow of stormwater," said a corporation official. He added that the flooding situation was reduced in the past monsoon season thanks to a similar intensive cleaning drive. Meanwhile, Manoj Panakkal, vice-president of Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce and a trader in Padma Junction, noted that the cleaning drive should be conducted twice a year, before the arrival of the southwest and northeast monsoons, instead of restricting it to a mere pre-monsoon drive. "Usually, Kochi witnesses flooding during the northeast monsoon when we receive heavy rains in a short period. The calendar prepared by the corporation should include this factor as well. They should clean the water bodies before the arrival of the southwest and northeast monsoons. Otherwise, if they conduct the drive during the pre-monsoon only, all the drains should be concealed and no inlet from households and commercial establishments should be there," said Manoj. He also suggested that the calendar should be published on a public platform and residents and others in the area should be informed when the drains or canals in the area are cleaned, to ensure that the whole stretch is properly cleaned.

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