Stranded Dirty Water with Mosquitoes Due to Unscientic Footpath/Drainage Work

By
Alfie Dsouza, Team Mangalorean.
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Stranded Dirty Water with Mosquitoes Due to Unscientic Footpath/Drainage Work Pose Risk to Health to nearby shop owners and pedestrians, across the road from the new Kankanady Market being built.

Mangaluru: A Drizzle and there is Waterlogging! That’s right, and it is the situation with streets flooded near to the recently built footpath cum drainage in front of Crasta Bakery/Select Bakery & other Shops/across the road from new Kankanady Market being built is Flooded near New Drainage Opp Kankanady Market. No matter which part of the City you travel to, the streets are still Flooded even though Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) or Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) have spent Crores on the New Drainage. Every time it rains, it floods.

This year has been no different in spite of a spate of new measures — new master plans for drainage and sewerage systems, and several monitoring and coordinating agencies put in place at different levels to monitor and prevent flooding. The entire so-called Smart City city is prone to frequent flooding due to rain. No doubt City’s stormwater drainage infrastructure is in a dilapidated state. The multiplicity creates a coordination challenge and everybody passes the blame every time roads get waterlogged, Mangaluru City Corporation blaming Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) or Vice Versa?

Rapid unplanned urbanisation, increase in paved surfaces preventing water percolation, dumping of construction debris and garbage in drains, covering of drains by building ramps, parking lots and markets that prevent cleaning, and mixing of sewage drains with storm water drains are some of the other major issues. But in this case here, the footpath cum drainage was built unscientifically on a slope, and no provision was given for water to seep in and flow, and now we are seeing waterlogging, and filled with mosquitoes, posing danger of spreading malaria and dengue.

Just walk into any of the shops, to name a few-Ramesh & Co Hardware shop, Select Bakery, Crasta Bakery, Super Laundry, a cloth shop, Mobile shop, Jewelry shop, Juice & Snack shop, among others, located in Fernandes Building right in front of the stranded water, you will notice the shop owners or their customers scratching their arms, face and other parts of their body, due to mosquito bites. And one among them is an elderly lady, owner of Crasta Bakery, having numerous mosquito bite spots on her hands, etc, and fears about getting affected with malaria or Dengue, at such old age.

So also are other shop owners desperately facing the brunt of this situation. and trying to prevent them from mosquito bites and the smell of the dirty water. While the district health department along with MCC is going around in a van spreading messages on the prevention of dengue and malaria and at the same time neglecting and not caring about the citizens, by allowing stranded water and open drainages across the city. And in spite of constructing new drains, it looks like it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money since water is still oozing out of these drains onto the roads, creating havoc for motorists and pedestrians. Even though there has been quite a flooding in the City, the concerned authorities have turned a blind eye and it seems like they have not learned anything nor do they care to improve and rectify the problems- while the streets remain still flooded during heavy rains.

Among the other areas in the City, the flooding opposite the Kankanady Market near a newly built drainage shows how unscientific work is done. Every time it rains, the area gets flooded, and the shop owners express their woes since they lose customers who are not able to cross the waterlogging. What a shame, to see waterlogging right in front of a newly constructed drainage- blame should be put on MCC or MSCL, whosoever was in charge of this project.

So by the way, why does this happen? Fundamentally, the existing infrastructure and drainage system in the city cannot handle the excess water whenever there’s a downpour. Originally, stormwater drains in the City were designed in keeping the water stored- They served the purpose so long as the population of the city was within a certain limit. The unprecedented growth of Mangaluru, unaccompanied by the necessary infrastructure, has precipitated problems of a large magnitude. The city drainage system comprises major drains, roadside drains and shoulder drains, all of which get overburdened during the rainy season.

Apart from adults and seniors, school and college-going students also face the brunt of the weather and flooded streets. Even though the heavy rains didn’t cause much damage or loss of life, it has caused panic and inconvenience to the commuters. Is MCC or MSCL doing anything to solve these ongoing flooding issues, and water getting logged/stranded even though it has built new drainages spending huge money on them?

As the city grows in population and sprawl, there’s a need for concerted action on the part of city planning and civic agencies to tackle the problem of flooding, which can not only damage the physical infrastructure but has serious implications for the safety and security of the people. Building a good drainage system should form a part of the Mangaluru Master Plan, which is lacking terribly.

While the City officials and local MLAs, MLC and other politicians are boasting about Mangaluru as one of the “SMART CITY” of India, it is time that they also put in some dedicated, sincere and committed “SMART” people to manage effective work in the development of the city- and also make sure that the drainage and footpaths are constructed to the standards, which will benefit the citizens of Mangaluru.

A Drizzle & Waterlogging! Street Flooded near New Drainage Opp Kankanady Market

So the citizens should expect their plight to continue in the foreseeable future. Until the bureaucrats get their own act together, every time it rains, expect waterlogging and worse. And one such example of waterlogging/Stranding is highlighted in this report- and on a last note, as per one of the shop owners here, he said every time he reminds the corporator about the stranded water or water logging during rains, the reply from the corporator is that the problem will be taken care, once rains stop. Excuse me, Sir, it has been pretty bright and sunny the past few days, why come up with silly excuses? Humbly requesting you to get the issue solved, and give relief to peoples’ woes.

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