They pointed out that during last week, the wrong decision in discharging the excess water from Valankulam has resulted in the flash floods in Trichy Road, and many other roads in the city which are already damaged heavily due to construction of an over bridge.
Coimbatore: In a petition to the CM the Coimbatore Citizen Voice said in recent years the maintenance and management of water bodies within city limits have been taken over by the City Municipal Corporations of the respective area and said that the task of maintenance and management of lakes has been forcefully taken over by the corporation authorities without any logical reason for doing so.
They added that officials and experts in PWD are well experienced and have adequate academic and practical knowledge in managing the lakes, more particularly in the rainy seasons, when the water inflow becomes unpredictable.In fact, minute by minute management is absolutely necessary during rainy days so as to decide upon the water level, discharge, the quantity of discharge, diversion to other water bodies etc. But the inexperience in handling such tasks, and the lack of adequately qualified/experienced officials, results in the corporation authorities often making wrong decisions at crucial times.
Almost all activities of the Corporation, viz., sanitation, upkeep of roads, drainage system, water supply, garbage clearing system etc have already been handed over to third parties in the name of outsourcing. In such a situation, taking over of water bodies like lakes, ponds etc, by the Corporation does not stand to benefit through management of these.
They accused that in Coimbatore, in the name of Smart City activities, most of the lakes have been taken over by the Corporation and several construction activities have been undertaken in the tank bunds in the name of beautification, development etc., But the end result of such activities are in no way resulting in strengthening the bunds or maintaining or increasing the storage capacity of such lakes. They also pointed out that during last week, the wrong decision in discharging the excess water from Valankulam has resulted in the flash floods in Trichy Road, and many other roads in the city which are already damaged heavily due to construction of an over bridge.
They hence urged to look into the matter and reconsider the decision of water bodies being managed by the Local Authorities and arrange to transfer the task again to the state PWD department.
They added that officials and experts in PWD are well experienced and have adequate academic and practical knowledge in managing the lakes, more particularly in the rainy seasons, when the water inflow becomes unpredictable.In fact, minute by minute management is absolutely necessary during rainy days so as to decide upon the water level, discharge, the quantity of discharge, diversion to other water bodies etc. But the inexperience in handling such tasks, and the lack of adequately qualified/experienced officials, results in the corporation authorities often making wrong decisions at crucial times.
Almost all activities of the Corporation, viz., sanitation, upkeep of roads, drainage system, water supply, garbage clearing system etc have already been handed over to third parties in the name of outsourcing. In such a situation, taking over of water bodies like lakes, ponds etc, by the Corporation does not stand to benefit through management of these.
They accused that in Coimbatore, in the name of Smart City activities, most of the lakes have been taken over by the Corporation and several construction activities have been undertaken in the tank bunds in the name of beautification, development etc., But the end result of such activities are in no way resulting in strengthening the bunds or maintaining or increasing the storage capacity of such lakes. They also pointed out that during last week, the wrong decision in discharging the excess water from Valankulam has resulted in the flash floods in Trichy Road, and many other roads in the city which are already damaged heavily due to construction of an over bridge.
They hence urged to look into the matter and reconsider the decision of water bodies being managed by the Local Authorities and arrange to transfer the task again to the state PWD department.