The reluctance of the railways to clean the culverts in the city adversely affects the flood control works in the city. Repeated applications have had little impact over the years. A view of the plastic and other garbage-clogged canal from near the KSRTC bus stand in Ernakulam. | Photo credit: H. VIBHU
Disagreement over who is responsible for cleaning up bodies of water flowing under railroad culverts appears to have hampered the city’s flood mitigation efforts, including the city government’s “Operation Breakthrough” initiative.
While the local authorities and related agencies insist that the responsibility lies with the railways, the railways instead put the onus on the former.
Mayor M. Anilkumar said the railways probably took the initiative to clean the culverts only once in the last five years. Clogged culverts have affected canals, including the Thevara–Perandoor canal, by reducing their width. The Railways claims that the sewage flowing under the culverts originates from households and hotels under the jurisdiction of the local bodies, he added.
The railways have been particularly reluctant to clean watercourses since a worker employed by the agency tasked with cleaning Amayizhanjan Thodu in Thiruvananthapuram drowned in a pile of garbage in July 2024. giving immediate permission to agencies to clean up if it does not threaten the culvert, and in other cases after detailed planning with them. Due to our vast network of tracks, it is not possible for us to clear the water bodies under the culverts,” railway sources said.
A recent meeting of the Kerala Chamber of Commerce (KMCC) identified clogged water bodies under railway culverts as a major obstacle to flood mitigation efforts. The railways, the meeting claimed, were not cooperating, resulting in disruption of water flow in the canals.
The meeting was called following the extensive losses suffered by traders in various parts of the city during the heavy downpour on the night of October 18 and in the early hours of the following day. In this regard, it was decided to file an Interim Application (IA) in the High Court.
“We have already been sued in a waterlogging case in the High Court but neither intervened nor sought compensation. Now we are planning to seek compensation as the recent floods have caused at least ₹3-4 crore damage to traders,” said Manoj Panakkal, vice-president, KMCC.
He added that traders along MG Road, TD Road, Jew Street, Cloth Bazar, Market Road and Broadway were among those badly affected by the recent waterlogging.
Published – 25 Oct 2025 18:52 IST
