Kerala High Court Constitutes District Collector Led Committee To Resolve Issue Of Flooding In Kochi

The Kerala High Court, on Friday, directed the District Collector to convene a committee of all the stakeholders to resolve the issue of flooding in the city of Kochi.

Justice Devan Ramachandran expressed his displeasure at the fact that despite various orders being issued by the Court, the City of Kochi was flooded due to heavy rainfall last month and observed that one agency alone "cannot be trusted" with resolving the issue. 

It is clear from real experience that one Agency alone cannot undertake, or be trusted with the resolution of the issues, particularly when rains are very heavy. I am, therefore, of the firm view that a Committee of the all stakeholders will have to be formed, to be headed by the District Collector, because the said officer is also the Chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority.

Referring to the sudden flooding of the city last month amid heavy rainfall as an "eye opener", Justice Ramachandran opined that "Such events show the rather tenuous and delicate nature of the city's infrastructure, particularly its drainage system; and no excuse would suffice, particularly to an ordinary citizen, who has lost everything in the ravaging floods."

Thereby, the Court constituted a committee headed by the District Collector consisting of the competent officials of the Corporation of Kochi, Cochin Metro Rail Limited, Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML), Kerala Water Authority (KWA), Southern Railway,  Advocate Sunil Jacob Jose(Amicus Curiae appointed by the Court)  and the Superintending Engineer of the Minor Irrigation Department who is the head of the Operation Breakthrough Team to resolving the issue. 

The Court has also directed the District Collector to convene the first meeting of the committee not later than 24th September and has also directed that the preliminary report with the drainage system of the city shall be made available to the Court on or before 28th September. 

Since the primary responsibility of maintaining drains is on the Corporation of Kochi, the Court opined that their earlier method of cleaning it as a pre-monsoon endeavour will have to cause, and a systematic and methodical regular cleaning has to be undertaken. The Court put forth the suggestion that such cleaning may be done every two or three months. 

The matter has been posted for 29th September.

Case Title: Treasa K. J. v. State of Kerala and Connected Cases 

Click Here To Read/Download The Order