MCC, NHAI take up drain desilting work on Pumpwell flyover service roads

Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), in a move to facilitate the free flow of rainwater, has begun silt removal from the shoulder drains of the service roads of the Pumpwell Flyover in the city, following massive artificial flooding on May 25 and June 14.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should have carried out silt removal work periodically, as the flyover was a part of the four-lane Kochi-Panvel NH66, said a senior MCC engineer. MCC, however, took up the silt removal work following directions from the then Deputy Commissioner M.P. Mullai Muhilan, who visited the spot on June 17, the official said.

As earthmovers began removing concrete slabs covering the drains on the afternoon of June 18, it was found that the drains were filled with silt and had no room for rainwater to drain out, quipped Mahesh Shetty, an onlooker. It appears that the drains had not been cleared ever since they were covered with concrete slabs, he regretted.

The MCC engineer said the civic body would remove silt in the drains along the service roads. The shoulder drains join two cross drains on which culverts were built. Silt would be removed from those cross drains, too, as far as possible, to ensure the rainwater drains out smoothly, he said.

NHAI joins

Meanwhile, the NHAI has also joined the silt removal work and is taking up removal on the flanks of one of the two service roads, said a senior official. Asked why the NHAI did not remove silt periodically, the official stated that it was, in fact, removing silt periodically.

Flooding occurs because a large amount of rainwater flows down to the Circle from Nanthoor, while the major drain below the flyover does not have the capacity to drain out such a huge volume, the official said.

Social activist Gopalakrishna Bhat said that one has to wait for the next heavy rains to assess the effectiveness of the current silt removal work. He said that Mr. Muhilan had directed MCC and the NHAI to examine diverting rainwater flowing down from Nanthoor to other areas in order to reduce the accumulation at Pumpwell Circle.