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| Sunday, 11 May 2003 |
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Rain causes chaos in Colombo by DAVEENA PAKIANATHAN Floods in Colombo! An incongruity until a few years ago has become an all-too familiar occurrence whenever there is a heavy downpour. And floods in Colombo became a messy ordeal for many, when last Tuesday's deluge inundated several areas in the city and suburbs. People's park, Maradana, Reid Avenue, Ward Place, the National Hospital, Kotahena.... areas not normally known as 'flood-prone' sites, were under water for several hours, disrupting the smooth flow of life and causing chaos all around. One particular chaotic scene was the National Hospital, where hospital staff and visitors were seen battling the knee-deep flood waters to get patients moving. Compounding the chaos created by the floods was the cause - the lack of, or rather the blockage of drains that had caused the rain water to overflow onto the roads, by-ways and across the city. The city's drainage lines were clogged by garbage, septic sludge, and the debris and dirt that had collected on roads and had been swept or washed on to the drains. And the drains had not been cleaned in a long, long time. Further confounding the chaos was the doubts as to who is responsible for keeping the drains clean and unclogged. City officials identifying the main problem being caused by littering and the haphazard disposal of garbage blame the public, saying that the problem is created by people throwing polythene bags, plastic bottles and other litter everywhere. They say these more often than not clog the drainage systems, thus creating water blocks. The public may be blamed for littering. But who is really in charge of cleaning the drains? And herein lies the problem. Technically, many believe it should be the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, since lack of drainage is what causes the floods and the Water Board does have the 'Drainage' tag. However, when we contacted the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, they stated that though drainage is included in their title, they do not do any drainage work. That, they emphasised, should be done by the Municipality. It was, Board officials said, the duty of the Colombo Municipal Council workers to clean the drains, collect the debris and dispose them correctly. The General Manager of the Colombo Municipal Council, admitted that the public was not responsible for the blockage of drains and the resultant floods. He said it wasn't just garbage, but also mud and sludge that had blocked the drains in residential areas like Ward Place and Wijerama Mawatha and blamed the Municipality workers for not doing their job. He also accused the CMC workers of negligence and failure to carry out their tasks on a regular basis. "They do clean the roads of major places which are most important in the city. But they don't bother with the residential areas," he said. Deputy Mayor Azath Sally said that it will take time to clean all the drains and that it was not easy to do the clean-up at once all because of the drainage system in Sri Lanka. It is over 100 years old, he said, stressing that the main cause of blocked drains and floods were unauthorized constructions in the city. The Meteorological Department said that there wont be any thunder showers in the city, but that early morning showers were expected during the coming weeks. The Department also said that there will be intermittent showers accompanied by fairly strong winds in the inland areas. |
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