Heavy rains bring to the city much needed relief after the scorching heat that Coimbatore has been subject to, however, these showers also cause considerable chaos with the traffic congestion, water clogging, uprooting of trees and snapped power lines.
The summer showers in the month of March, which caused traffic jams and the subways to be water clogged, was just one of the many times a downpour has brought the city to a standstill. Lanka Corner was one of the places in the city where the buzz came to a dead stop with the flooding water.
Saravanan, an IT Employee and trustee of an NGO Wild Wing Trust, was stuck near the Lanka Corner underpass for over 40 minutes due to the water blockade. He was quick to raise the concern on social media after which the Coimbatore Corporation invited public suggestions to reduce the water stagnation at the underpass.
Local NGO's, architects along with the Coimbatore Corporation came up with a solution, after much deliberation, to channel the accumulated water in Lanka Corner to an underground system. They have also decided to widen the drainage system.
Raveendran.R, Secretary of RAAC foundation, while speaking to SimpliCty said that "The improper drainage system of the city is largely the reason behind the flooding and blockade caused by rainwater. Lanka Corner is worst hit by theheavy downpours as drain water from Ram Nagar and Trichy Road gets collected here due to the slope in the region. Until now, the Coimbatore Corporation had used pumps to reduce the water stagnation at Lanka Corner, however the roots of the problem were not properly identified. After Saravanan brought this issue to limelight, a meeting was held with Corporation Commissioner, K.Vijaykarthikeyan. It was found that the water stagnation was caused due to the narrow drain near the railway station. The drain, which is 6 feet wide reduces to just 2 feet near the railway station area causing water to overflow and flood Lanka Corner.
Two initiatives are to be implemented to mitigate the problem of water stagnation at Lanka corner. One will be widening of the drainage from the Railway Station and directing it to an underground drainage at GH junction which will then be channeled to Valankulam .This will resolve the problem of drain water segregation however, the rain water from Trichy road and other nearby areas will still clog the region. Hence, city based architecture, Arun Prasad and few NGO's came up with a plan to install steel grills in the middle of the road at Lanka Corner. These grills will channel the rain water from all nearby areas to an underground water passage.
The widening of the drainage is expected to soon be put into action, although, there will be a slight delay, as an approval from the BSNL office is required, prior to the commencement of the work. This is because the BSNL office has placed underground telephone lines in the region. The overall cost for these two projects is estimated to amount to Rs. 70 Lakhs. The Lanka Corner project will be completed by June, before the onset of monsoon. The next project is to be initiated at the GCT junction for which we are currently in discussion.”