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Stating that Kochi ought to unrecorded up to its ‘smart city’ image, the Kerala High Court connected Thursday (June 11, 2026) directed the committee headed by the District Collector to taxable a study connected June 18 connected the steps taken to declog canals and drains and guarantee harmless roads during the monsoon.
The study ought to incorporate details of the advancement of the works and the preventive measures being taken, said a Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran. The archetypal spell of monsoon rains is conscionable a trailer. The Kochi Corporation, Minor Irrigation department, Public Works section (PWD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Railways, and different agencies indispensable instrumentality steps to debar flooding and forestall roads from processing potholes and undulations.
On the plight of a nationalist road corridor maintained by the NHAI, the tribunal said determination was a “crater-like pothole” astatine the centre of the highway. Potholes are man-made disasters. The engineers acrophobic ought to support roads properly, failing which idiosyncratic liability volition beryllium fixed successful the aftermath of accidents caused by the shoddy upkeep of roads. Based connected feedback provided by the amicus curiae, the tribunal held that respective roads and canals successful Kochi were successful mediocre condition. The engineers of the Kochi Corporation, PWD, and the NHAI “must beryllium connected their feet” astatine each times since the information of motorists and pedestrians is astatine stake. These agencies cannot mention the monsoon arsenic a justification for not repairing roads. Their engineers indispensable verify firsthand the information of roads nether their jurisdiction.
The tribunal observed that low-lying areas successful the metropolis remained prone to flooding during rain, portion referring to submissions made by the amicus curiae. Expressing dismay astatine the authorities of affairs, the tribunal said the Minor Irrigation section and different agencies ought to heed the amicus curiae’s proposal to instal non-corrosive meshes astatine drain outlets starring into canals to forestall integrative and different debris from entering the waterways.
The High Court specifically sought steps to declog the canal beside the KSRTC autobus basal and the Perandoor Canal, and to expedite the long-overdue Mullassery Canal works. Drains astatine Madhava Pharmacy Junction, wherever M.G. Road branches disconnected from Banerjee Road, are besides successful mediocre condition, endangering pedestrians. A ‘smart city’ cannot spend this, the tribunal said.
The Railways informed the High Court that steps had been taken to wide railway culverts. The substance has been posted for adjacent proceeding connected June 18.
