UDF slams Kochi Corporation for ‘slack monsoon preparedness’

The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has scaled up its protest against the Kochi Corporation for the latter’s alleged slack monsoon preparedness, leading to waterlogging.

In a release issued here, the Opposition said that the failure to desilt and deepen major canals had caused clogging, leading to the intrusion of floodwaters into households in the neighbourhood. Despite repeated demands by the Opposition to clean up the Perandoor canal and the Karanakodam canal before the onset of the monsoon, no steps were taken. Work worth ₹9.50 lakh for cleaning the Perandoor canal was initiated just days before the monsoon.

The cleaning of the Karanakodam canal using a weed cutter and silt puller provided by Cochin Smart Mission Limited is not yet complete. The Corporation has to spend ₹2.86 crore for the operation and maintenance of these machines, causing a huge financial burden to the civic body, the UDF said.

In addition to the deployment of the machines, the Corporation also gave the contract for traditional cleaning at a cost of ₹28 lakh. That work also started just now, leaving it redundant. The public will not benefit unless pre-monsoon cleaning works are completed in time, the Opposition said.

Published - May 31, 2025 07:51 pm IST