Coimbatore Corporation in action
With just two months to go for the South-West Monsoon the Coimbatore Corporation has begun efforts to tackle the city's most vexatious problem during heavy rain - flooding at the Lanka Corner underpass.Rainwater collects at the underpass owing to choked storm water drains.Sewage from burst drainage lines also joins it to make life miserable for vehicle users.One of the three sections of the underpass (below the railway line) is being dug up to assess whether the drainage lines have to be replaced. "The lines are small and 40 years old. And, the sewage passing through them now may be double their capacity.This often leads to blocks or bursts and causes flooding at the underpass," says Mayor R. Venkatachalam. "We will examine whether bigger pipelines can be provided to solve the problem." The Mayor points out that one line comes from the Bank Road, along which the Coimbatore Railway Junction is located. The other comes from Arts College Road. Both lines pass through the underpass to the sewage farm at Vellalore. A block in these lines cause bursts. Sewage overflows on the road and forms a pool at the underpass. When rainwater also joins it, only buses and lorries can pass through it. All the other vehicles are forced to take the Avanashi Flyover to avoid getting stuck for hours at the underpass. The underpass serves as one of the main routes that link the eastern parts of the city with the west. When it gets flooded, traffic on the Tiruchi Road-Big Bazaar Road stretch is paralysed.
"This is why we want to get the problem rectified before the monsoon sets in," says the Mayor. According to him, the Corporation had pursued the matter for close to a month with the Southern Railway's Divisional Office in Palakkad for sanction to carryout repairs below the railway line. "We got the clearance recently and decided to take up the work immediately,Mr. Venkatachalam says.
