TrivandrumLife
City witnessed flash floods and water logging at several places on Friday. It seems to be just a trailer of what is ahead in the upcoming south west monsoon season. Despite the miseries, flash floods bring back memories of the effort of one person – our own Action Hero Biju. Yes! our former collector and current social justice secretary Biju Prabhakar IAS.
A team led by the then collector Biju Prabhakar and the then chief secretary Jiji Thomson was behind the famous Operation Anantha, which saved the core areas of the city from flash floods for the past few years. As Biju Prabhakar has warned last year, second phase of Operation Anantha is long overdue. The flash floods during the pre-monsoon is a warning to take immediate action.
Just after election to local self governments in November 2015, Biju Prabhakar was given charge as corporation administrator. He effectively used his power to clear encroachments from the drains in East Fort and Thampanoor. An overflow duct was constructed across Putharikandam as an immediate work. This was one of the major reasons flash floods stayed away from East Fort in the past four years.
Another major work executed at the time of Operation Anantha was clearing of waste and silt from the Amaizhanchan canal. Around 700 loads of silt and waste was cleared from the drain at that time. Now anyone can see that the canal came back to its old filthy state in four years.
A strong administration and a person like Biju Prabhakar who clearly knows every nook and cranny in the city could only bring lasting solutions to the issue of water logging in the city. It is time for city residents to start a campaign for Operation Anantha 2.
