Disagreement over cleaning up waterbodies beneath railway culverts hits flood mitigation in Kochi

Disagreement over who is responsible for cleaning up waterbodies flowing beneath railway culverts appears to have hampered flood mitigation efforts in the city, including the district administration’s ‘Operation Breakthrough’ initiative.

While the local bodies and related agencies concerned insist that the responsibility lies with the Railways, the Railways, in turn, place the onus on the former.

Mayor M. Anilkumar said that the Railways had likely taken the initiative to clean the culverts only once in the past five years. The clogged culverts have affected canals, including the Thevara–Perandoor Canal, by reducing their width. The Railways maintain that the wastewater flowing beneath the culverts originates from households and hotels within the local bodies’ jurisdiction, he added.

The Railways have been particularly reluctant to undertake the cleaning of waterbodies ever since a worker employed by an agency tasked with cleaning Amayizhanjan Thodu in Thiruvananthapuram drowned in a pile of garbage in July 2024. “Our responsibility is limited to maintaining the physical structure of the culverts. What lies beneath, whether road, canal, or sewage, is the responsibility of the respective local bodies. We have been granting immediate permission to agencies for cleaning when it does not endanger the culvert, and in other cases, after detailed planning with them. Given our extensive network of tracks, it is not feasible for us to clear the waterbodies beneath culverts,” said Railway sources.

A recent meeting of the Kerala Merchant Chamber of Commerce (KMCC) identified clogged waterbodies beneath railway culverts as a major obstacle to flood mitigation efforts. The Railways, the meeting alleged, were not cooperating, resulting in disrupted water flow in canals.

The meeting was convened following extensive losses suffered by traders in various parts of the city during the heavy downpour on the night of October 18 and the early hours of the following day. It was decided to file an interlocutory application (IA) before the High Court in this regard.

“We have already been impleaded in a case regarding waterlogging in the High Court but have neither intervened nor sought compensation. We now plan to seek compensation, as the recent floods caused damages amounting to at least ₹3 crore to ₹4 crore to traders,” said Manoj Panakkal, vice-president, KMCC.

He added that traders along M.G. Road, T.D. Road, Jew Street, Cloth Bazar, Market Road, and Broadway were among those severely affected by the recent waterlogging.