Tidal flooding disrupts daily life in Panampilly Nagar

Kochi: Unexpected tidal flooding continues to disrupt daily life for residents and businesses in Panampilly Nagar, one of the city's most upscale neighbourhoods. Several areas, including SBI Junction and Alibaba Junction, witnessed waterlogging. The situation worsened around noon on Tuesday following heavy rains combined with tidal activity.

"The water started rising in the morning and the situation became critical by around 12pm. The recent heavy rains, along with tidal waves, triggered the sudden flooding. The primary reasons are the challenges in cleaning the drainages and lack of proper canal dredging in the area," said Panampilly Nagar councillor Anjana Rajesh.

She added that many residents have covered drains with fixed concrete slabs, making cleaning efforts difficult. "We issued notices to them to remove these slabs to facilitate drainage maintenance. However, many people did not cooperate, keeping the drains in front of their homes closed. This too contributes to the flooding," she said.

More than an inconvenience, the flooding also poses a serious health risk, as contaminated water often mixes with drinking water stored in ground-level tanks. With flooding becoming a frequent issue, many residents were forced to rely on tanker-supplied water.

V K Thankaraj, former councillor of the division, said that frequent flooding now affects more than 50 houses in addition to commercial establishments. "There was no significant initiative from the authorities to clean the drains from the MG Road stretch. The delay in dredging the Perandoor canal is worsening the situation," he added.