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Express news service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pipe cleaning, tree felling and road maintenance under PWD have been assigned to the newly formed wing, but work has been delayed. almost all neighborhoods. Ultimately, residents and localities of the city continue to face flooding after each episode of heavy rains.
The Road Maintenance Wing (RMW) formed by the former Minister of Public Works delayed maintenance of PWD roads and storm sewers before the monsoon in the state capital. The inter-ministerial struggle is brewing as none of the agencies involved in the pre-monsoon clean-up, including the irrigation department, the municipal company and PWD, are prepared to take responsibility for the floods that plague the city’s residents after each. heavy rain.
With the monsoon already here, most of the work is still progressing at a snail’s pace. Officials say the state capital is still under threat as canals and drains are filled with silt. A senior PWD official said that although various pre-monsoon works are underway, the city will still face flooding if the rivers overflow. “It is the responsibility of the local organization to clean the drains and canals. But that’s the situation, and we are ordered to clean up eight or nine places where the flooding is severe. The department does not have special funds to clean all of the city’s drains.
We only do emergency work with the minimum allocation of funds. Each division would receive 5 lakh or 6 lakh, which is not enough, for clean-up activities. The civic body never takes responsibility and, when the time comes, blames people with disabilities. Waste management does not happen and the garbage ends up in storm sewers, ”said a senior PWD official.
It has been three years since the state government formed a new wing to maintain the roads and drains under the PWD. Even after the onset of the monsoon, much of the pre-monsoon PWD work has not yet started.
Circle of Laxity A senior PWD Drainage Wing official said the government issued an order in April 2020 affecting the RMW to carry out maintenance work. According to the official, the delay in starting the pre-monsoon works is due to this. “It was clearly stated that the RMW would undertake the cleaning of the pipes, the felling of trees and the maintenance of the roads under the PWD. But unfortunately the ministry was unable to carry out the order. There are about 100 engineers under this wing and they are unable to do the job. Maybe it’s because of the delay in government procedures, ”the official said.
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“We were not ordered to begin clean-up activities until after the May cyclone. We haven’t even lost a day and a lot of work has already been completed, ”added the manager. Another PWD official blamed the irrigation service for the flooding in the city.
“Even though we clean the drains, the channels are clogged with silt. The Attakulangara region has recently experienced severe flooding due to the uncleaned Kariyilathodu. There is no flow in the canal and the Attakulangara school was flooded by the heavy rains that hit the town following the cyclonic formation, ”the official said.
An RMW official said: “Based on pending orders, we have been commissioned to maintain a few roads with an ongoing contract. For now, pre-monsoon training would be provided by the roads wing of the PWD. We anticipate more government orders to undertake such work in the future, ”the official said.
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