Cleaning of Railway culverts in Kochi hits a roadblock

Railways in city refuse to clean canals, culverts; offer support to agencies instead, citing mandate limitations.

The cleaning of canals and culverts that run through the holdings of Railways in the city has hit a roadblock with the Railways refusing to undertake the job.

The Railways has not undertaken any such activity across India. Instead, it offers all required support to agencies concerned to clean drains and canals. As an agency tasked with the running of trains, the Railways cannot undertake any job outside its mandate, maintained Railway officials.

The Railway officials made their stand clear in the wake of growing demand for cleaning the canals and culverts that pass through the holdings in possession of the agency. The Amayizhanjan Canal accident in Thiruvananthapuram has renewed the demand for de-clogging the canals and culverts on the Railway premises.

The Railway lines that pass through the city have intercepted various waterbodies in 22 locations and culverts have been constructed in as many locations. The limited flow of water through the canals and its clogging due to waste accumulation has been a matter of concern for the civic authorities.

Kochi Mayor M. Anilkumar had earlier stated that the civic authorities would seek the support of the Railways to clean up culverts and ensure smooth flow of floodwaters.

Antony Kureethara, the Congress leader in the Kochi Corporation Council, demanded the reconstruction of all Railway culverts in the city to facilitate the free flow of water. The civic authorities could not shy away from the responsibility of cleaning the canals by blaming the Railways, he said.

However, the Railway officials refused to commit themselves to cleaning the canals and culverts as they said the agencies responsible for the cleaning of the canals and the culverts should undertake the job. All that the Railways could do is to facilitate the agencies concerned to do their job, added officials.